Dreams and Reality Coincide
by whitefire33
Summary: Ally's dad was working on KH2 before he vanished, when she visits his office one day, she's taken on an adventure of a life time! She'll have complicated paths to choose, she'll make mistakes, she'll fight - a lot, with Kingdom Hearts? Will Ally be handle to handle all this? I would give it a read - I think it'll be worth it. OC *cursing later on
1. Chp 1 - Life is a Journey, it Starts Now

So...I've been gone for awhile...and basically I don't have many excuses, but this is what I've been working on I think for over two years! I know, crazy. Recently though with the new released footage of KH3 which won't come out for forever, I decided to reflect back on this story.

Hopefully the beginning isn't too slow, I didn't like writing it too much because I was already at the more exciting parts of the story anyway not involving introducing the character and all that nonsense!

So, this is not a self-insert, but it is an OC-insert, so if you're not into that you'll probably have a harder time reading this than others. I have tried a lot with this chapter to make it more unique and to make it special compared to other self/Oc-inserts. Usually I'm not super crazy about stories like this, but I thought I'd give it a shot, I'm just going to be happy posting it and getting out here!

So enjoy!

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Chapter 1: Life is a Journey, And it Starts Now

Some people would call Ally's uniform restrictive, uncomfortable, and unbelievably sweaty; but Ally has found the suit to become a second layer of her skin. She has been fencing for years, training at a very young age since her father used to fence when he started grade school. Ally had advanced so far in school she was now the captain of the team, also because she was one of the oldest members. Some people doubted her skills since Ally's family friend Ren Kyoto was the instructor, but that only pushed Ally farther to become the best. She loved the feeling of being so graceful yet being so cunning in an assault, or match.

But she wasn't going to enjoy this round: thanks to Hayato Minamoto. He was the strongest out of anyone on the team, mainly because he was naturally built like a bulldozer. He was also the only one who ever competed with Ally for the role of captain. She didn't mind having a rival like him, it tested her every day, making sure she was at her best in every match; and it's always been playful rivalry, never has Hayato tried to intimidate Ally into messing up and giving the title to him. There was too much respect on the team for that sort of recklessness.

Ally and Hayato stood directly across each other on the matt, each having other members of the team hooking them up to monitors to establish when someone has been hit. Master Kyoto stood on the sidelines ready to start the duel.

"You ready for this?" Hayato challenged.

"You know I am." Ally said as she readjusted her facemask.

"I've been training extra hard this week." Hayato warned.

"So I've noticed, but let's see if it was worth it." Ally said coyly. Once both Ally and Hayato were in their stances on their side of the line, Kyoto began.

"En guard, prêt, allez." As soon as he finished it was like a blast of energy struck the room. Ally and Hayato advanced forward in seconds and were already dueling. Ally was more of the strategist and has learned how to maneuver around strong and overbearing opponents – that's why she had chosen to master the foil since she wasn't particularly strong; she knew she could use her speed to get an advantage. Hayato had an epée, which had more weight to it and had thicker metal to strike harder and more direct, meaning harder to block.

Hayato grunted every time he advance-lunged at Ally, which gave a clue as to where Ally should move every time. Finally after Hayato have moved onto her side of the matt, she took advantage of the moment and took the opportunity as he lagged between movements to strike. This happened until Ally achieved three points, meaning she won the match. Hayato ended up falling on his butt in exhaustion. Ally approached him as she took off her facemask to reveal a bead of sweat on her forehead, making her dark bangs stick every which way.

"Good game." Ally leaned down slightly to extend her hand to Hayato to help him up. He panted once more before accepting her hand and she hoisted him up to his feet.

"Why is that I can never beat you?" He asked in disbelief with a stifled laugh as he removed his facemask as well.

"Fencing requires skill, not strength, you would do well to remember that." Master Kyoto approached the two fencers and placed a hand on both Ally and Hayato's shoulders. "Centuries ago fencing used to be just about strength and how one must overcome a person with intimidation, but that way of fighting is now long forgotten as now it takes skill and thinking on your feet to win a duel. Now, that's all the time we have for today, I will see you after school on Monday." He clapped his hands together and everyone stood up and faced him and bowed respectfully as all the students said,

"Thank you Master Kyoto." Master Kyoto bowed back and finally everyone was dismissed. Ally was ready to hit the showers. She stripped the gear from her body to reveal a soft green tank top and dark blue leggings. Once she placed her fencing gear into her duffle bag, she moved to the showers to get washed up. She had to rush, knowing she had a ton of work to do tonight and she wanted to have a free weekend since her uncle wanted to show her his workspace. Ally sighed sadly at the thought; she didn't really want to see what her uncle and dad were working on before her dad…

Walking home from fencing was exhausting. She was too late to get a ride from Ren since he had another engagement to get to. It was starting to frustrate her since her focus was on fighting and her studies, she didn't have time to start driving lessons even though she was of age. Ally sighed in relief when she spotted her apartment building. She opened the door with difficulty and said good afternoon to the man at the desk. She impatiently waited for the elevator, tapping her foot on the tiled floor in rhythm with the pounding in her head. It opened finally and she gladly stepped into the small space and pressed her floor number. She slumped her stuff off her shoulders and onto the ground as she got her key out of her backpack.

"I'm home!" Ally announced loudly to the inside of the apartment. She kicked her equipment lazily and slipped her shoes off at the front door before taking the small step onto the wood of the household.

"Hi sweety." Her mom said from the kitchen as she slaved over the stove making tonight's meal. She hadn't looked up when she answered. Ally wiped the sweat off her brows and saw her mom working too hard as always, guess it was the only thing to keep her mind distracted.

"HI mom." She whispered before going over quickly and pecking her mom on the side of her head. She saw her mom smile almost but didn't miss a beat going back to work. Ally sighed as she grabbed a banana from the fruit bowl on the kitchen counter.

"Don't I get a hello?" Ally asked her brothers tiredly, who were ignoring her coming home as they played video games in the attached open living room.

"We're busy…" Her elder and younger brother said playing a loud gun shooting game she didn't like.

"Of course you are." She sighs angrily as she rolls her eyes. She's gotten fed up with their constant video game addiction over the past few weeks. She stomps over to the couch and stands in front of them.

"HEY!" Kai yells at her.

"Move it Al!" Tyler almost demands. Ally glares daggers at her brothers, takes Tyler's remote, masterfully presses buttons and moves the controller and destroys all the enemies in sight and conquers the base being invaded.

"There, now there're no more levels to play." Ally stated as she tossed the remote into Tyler's crossed legs as she enjoyed the sight of her brother's jaws unhooking themselves from their sockets.

"Why are you always the master of every game?" Tyler complains as he scratches the back of his dark brown hair with a confused and angry look shining in his eyes.

"Have you even _played_ this one before?" Kai also whined.

"Don't need to, every game is almost built the same on the PS2, there's wasn't much to get to beat it."

"Smarty pants." Kai grumbled.

"And you two obviously aren't." Ally said crossing her arms, her face scrunching up in further annoyance.

"Mom! Ally's being a know-it-all again!" Tyler whined like he wasn't older than Ally.

"Yeah mom! Tell her to stop teasing us!" Kai agreed making puppy dog eyes at their mom while creeping slowly from behind the white couch.

"Ally that's enough, Kai and Ty, quit wasting time and study for your exams coming up." The mom answered monotonously.

"Aw, c'mon…" Kai groaned as he slumped over himself as he walked over to his shared room with his brother.

"Thanks a lot." Ty growled as he passed his younger sister.

"You'll thank me later when you're not selling these games on the streets instead of going to college." Ally countered.

"Yeah, whatever." He said waving a hand behind his head not caring. Ally sighed and she silently walked into her room and collapsed on her bed that was attached into the wall and could fold up if she wished. It squeaked loudly and moved slightly as she turned over from her back onto her stomach and buried her face into her pillow.

Ally's mom was still not acting like her cheery self, no matter how much she smiled, Ally could see the redness of her mother's eyes, showing their true meaning. Even when she told Ally to knock it off, she used to crack a joke too to lighten the mood; she always had the power to make everything better. Until her dad went missing, now presumed dead since it's been a month. It had been hard on all of them when Ally's father went missing. He was staying at work late at night, like he always did, working for a gaming company as prestigious as Square Enix means having to work his hardest to get the job done. They found his car still at work but his desk was a mess, like a tornado blew in but on at his little cubicle.

"It's just not fair…" Ally mumbled to herself as she hugged her pillow tighter. She noticed that it was starting to feel a little damp on her face and pushed the pillow aside to rub her face violently. She looked up from where she was on the bed and was facing the mirror. He too pale skin was now spotted with red as she was now having trouble keeping in the sobs.

Her green eyes were now swollen and making the irises look like a darker emerald than her usual jade green color. She turned away from the mirror and played with her long ponytail, now messed up from lying down. She let her dark hair loose and it fell everywhere. She laid back down on her bed and just looked up at the glow-in-the-dark star stickers on her ceiling that she's had up since they moved into their apartment six years ago. Suddenly Ally felt a sudden wave of drowsiness rush over her and she decided irrationally to not worry about her homework for the moment and take a small nap. She blamed her workout from fencing on her sleepiness before she completely faded into black.

I woke up in a field, a grassy field covered in a blanket of night. I wandered around for a very long time, not understanding how I got here or why I was here. I ended up finding a path, branching off in different directions. I stood there wondering, where should I go? I also asked myself, why do I have to make this decision? What's the point?

_"This world has been connected." _A voice said from the distance, though I couldn't see anyone in miles.

"Show yourself." I demanded. I kept turning round and round until I found the person, now standing on the only pathway in sight.

_"This world is tied to the darkness." _The voice stated. I looked around and studied the place. It didn't seem to be that bad of a place, it was just nighttime. Other than the stranger in front of me, shrouded in a dark cloak, it seemed rather peaceful.

"Sure it's dark here, but I don't think that's true."

_"You understand nothing." _Came another, deeper voice. I noticed it held more malice and had a more threatening tone. I didn't like feeling so off balanced, and I especially didn't like being talked down to like he was.

"Say that again…" I growled. What I thought was the person I was talking to, I decided to charge forward but the person then showed up on my side and stopped me by placing a hand firmly on my shoulder. "What the?"

_"What's make you so special?" _Said another cloaked person, though this guy had more of an attitude, he was more curious and he sounded more around my age, but that didn't make me any more comfortable with the situation.

_"Let the boy play hero for a bit longer, his job isn't done yet." _Came another voice, it was really starting to throw Ally off by how many people were talking at once. This voice sounded more philosophical and more strategic almost.

_"All worlds begin in darkness, and all so end." _The dark and threatening voice returned and instead of standing in a field, I was standing on a small patch of sand. I was completely surrounded by rough waters and the sky was a scary dark purple color._ "The heart is no different. You see darkness is the heart's true essence. Kingdom Hearts!" _The man finally appeared in the distance, all she could see was long straight silver hair and a hand reaching out forward to a door. Once he did that I heard a loud but deep scream, probably from the same person. I suddenly fell back for what seemed like forever. I had no track of time or how fast I was going.

**_I have chosen. You shall be our savior, fulfill the journey. Find him._**

"Find who?" I asked over the rush of the wind in my ears.

**_Roxas will lead you to something missing._**

"Something…missing?" I had trouble thinking, as I felt like I was running out of time, I could almost hear my heart pounding in my ears. Then I came to a realization. "Dad?"

Ally woke up with hundreds of circles swimming through her brain, as well as desperate for answers. She's never had a dream like that before. Ally rubbed her eyes to see they were damp. She was crying softly, also mixing with the cold sweat that covered her face and neck. Ally quickly got out of bed and rushed to the bathroom to wash up. She splashed cool water on her face, waking up her senses.

"What, what did that mean?" Ally murmured to herself.

"That means get out of the bathroom!" Someone yelled, breaking Ally's train of thought. She turned around to see her older brother's soapy head pop out from behind the shower curtain.

"Huh?" She looked at him curiously, not really hearing what he was saying more just hearing the tone of his voice.

"Are you deaf today? Get out of the bathroom!" Her brother said furiously, trying to prevent shampoo from getting in his eyes. "For once I'd like to have some privacy."

"Oh, sorry Ty." Ally said absent mindedly as she walked out of the bathroom.

"Yeah, whatever." Ally was about to head back to her room when she heard someone call her name from downstairs.

"Ally?"

"Yeah mom?" Ally called over the roar of the shower she finally registered.

"Dan's here." Dan was her 'uncle' that worked with her dad. Today he was going to take her to work, to see the office for the first time.

"Okay, I'll be down in a minute." Ally called. She quickly went to her room and dried her face on the robe hanging on the hook on her door. She tied her long hair up as she hustled down the stairs.

"Hey, there's my goddaughter!" Ally was too distracted tying her hair back to register she was getting tackled in a bear hug.

"Hi Uncle Dan." Ally laughed, as she finally was able to hug him back.

"Say, you're not ready to go, are you?" Dan asked looking her over. What I bet gave it away were her fuzzy socks still on her feet.

"Huh?" Ally still was taking a while to wake up. she looked down at herself and realized he was talking about her pajamas still on. "Oh yeah, I was gonna go with you to work. I'm sorry." She scratched her head bashfully. "I'm a little out of it."

"You work yourself too hard." Uncle Dan laughed loudly, waking up Ally slightly. "Go get dressed and we'll be off."

"Kay." Ally ran back upstairs and quickly threw on some clothes. She was wearing dark wash jeans with a long sleeved purple shirt, her favorite green vest over it and then comfortable converse sneakers. Once she was ready, Ally and Dan headed into his car and took a half hour drive to Shibuya, Tokyo, where the office building was. It was pretty silent in the car as Ally's head was floating around the idea of going to the last place her father was before going missing. It was frightening thought but she thought if she saw his empty desk, maybe it would help her feel with the sadness. Finally facing the facts might be the trick to snap her out of her spacing out state she's resorted to as of late.

"You okay, kiddo?" Dan asked from the driver's seat. Ally decided to sit in the back, force of habit with Tyler usually calling shotgun.

"Yeah, I'm just having an off day." Ally said, trying to put on a brave face. Of course Dan knowing her since birth saw through her defenses.

"Do you want to turn back?" He asked.

"No." Ally replied quickly. "No, I've never actually seen where you and dad worked, so I'm interested. I have to get a couple of his things too…" It didn't take long after their talk and some songs playing on the radio to make it to the parking lot of Square Enix and riding the elevator to where Dan worked. He opened a double door entrance to Ally to enter and she looked around to find rows of tables with computers all around. There were sketches on some bulletin boards and scattered on some tables.

"This is where your dad worked with me on the latest games." Dan explained.

"It just looks like a room filled with computers." Ally said, not expecting the office to look like this.

"Yeah, but we have a kitchen, that's new." Dan joked as he motioned with his thumb to a room to the side of them. "Say I'm going to grab something."

"Okay, which was my dad's desk?" Ally asked.

"That one near the front." He pointed to probably the neatest desk out of the whole computer room.

"Okay thanks." Ally was about to head towards the desk when she turned around quickly to address Dan. "Oh, could you grab me something too?"

"Sure thing." Dan said with a smile, happy to see that Ally was loosening up. Ally really wanted him to get her something so she could have more alone time with the desk. It may have been selfish, but she thought it would be good to see it without someone hovering over her shoulder.

"Well, dad had a riveting life here I see." Ally laughed lightly as she sat down in a swivel chair. She looked around and it didn't take long to find a picture of the family near the computer. She picked it up and the photo was taken when the family still in America. "I miss you…"

"So much to do, so little time…" Came a shocking voice. Ally looked at the computer, which she turned on accidentally when sitting at the desk.

"Huh?" She clicked on a few icons until she found a program was still open on the computer, which she found odd since her father hasn't been at the computer in almost a month. "Oh…it's just the computer, it must've started playing something on its own."

"Don't be afraid – the door is still shut. Can you do it?" The computer said in a deep but soothing voice, though the recording sounded broken, like a bunch of pieces of dialogue were strung together out of order.

"That doesn't sound right." Ally noted.

"Power sleeps within you…if you give it form…it will give you strength."

"How can I turn this off?" Ally said, getting a little frustrated with the voice still continuing. She found the volume controls and put the computer on mute.

"You cannot avoid your destiny." Ally stared at the computer and completely let go of the mouse. "Don't stop."

"Okay seriously this is getting a little too weird." She was about to unplug the computer when the computer spoke once more.

"You are the chosen one. **_Allyson_**."

"…What?" Ally gaped. It still sounded like the recording, but since it was a recording, it shouldn't know her name.

**_You heard right…it's time we talked._**This time, the voice didn't come from the computer, it sounded like it was all around Ally. Suddenly the screen began to turn white, then the lights went off in the room and the white light completely engulfed Ally's sight. She had to shield her eyes from the intensity. Once she felt she could open her eyes again, Ally moved her arms and slowly cracked her eyes open.

"Where am I?" She was surrounded in stars. Ally suddenly got slightly scared when she felt like she was floating. She couldn't see the ground she was standing on. She scanned the area quickly and felt like someone was watching her. "Who's there?"

**_Hello, Allyson._**

"Where are you?" Ally yelled. She was definitely freaking out at this point.

**_I am everywhere, and nowhere._**

"Care to run that by me again?" Ally snorted, she didn't feel like being polite with whoever was talking to her. She was beyond ticked.

**_I am Kingdom Hearts._**

"The game?"

**_No, I am THE Kingdom Hearts._**

"The door, thing?" Ally asked, trying to recall what she remembered from the last game, the very one her father was working on before starting his latest project: the sequel.

**_I have become more than that._**

"I can see that…though not in a literal sense." Ally joked.

**_You must come with me._**

"And where would I be going?"

**_To partake in your destiny, weren't you listening?_**

"I thought…" Ally felt like she was losing her breath, along with her mind. This couldn't be real, Ally had to stay focused. "This can't be happening."

**_If this wasn't real, could I do this?_**The scenery around them changed and Ally was forced into a seat. When she jolted back against the soft cushion behind her, Ally realized she was not sitting on a train. However, not one that Ally recognized, it wasn't like any train she's seen in Japan.

"How'd I get here?" She demanded. Ally stood up from her seat, immediately regretting it when she realized how fast they were going. She fell back down into the seat cushion. "Where are you taking me? I demand some real answers!"

**_Patience._**

"I don't have time for patience, I'm being kidnapped."

**_You are here because you are needed._**

"What's that supposed to mean? Who needs me?"

**_Everyone._**

"That's even more confusing, who's everyone?"

**_My world._**

"Your…world?" Ally asked as she looked out the window curiously. She almost thought for a second she was in the North Pole or somewhere because she could see the aurora borealis outside in every direction. It was hypnotic. "You're just supposed to be zeros and ones."

**_Your father took my power to the next level._**

"Dad?" She gasped.

**_Would it help if I said that by listening to me you could locate your father?_**

"I knew it, he's not dead!"

**_No, but he is lost._**

"Tell me how to find him." Ally had to hold back to plead. She was so desperate for answers, but Ally didn't want to seem weak in front of this, whatever it was talking to her.

**_First, this is your stop. _**The train suddenly went from what Ally thought was the North Pole to somewhere beautiful and brightly light. It looked like it was the middle of summer. The train was headed towards a town on the ocean side and the train entered a station. She tentatively got out of the train once the doors slid open and she stepped out to see people were waiting to board the same train. She wondered if they were going to take them to her world or to the beach.

"Where have you taken me?" Ally asked impatiently. Once she spoke aloud, she realized that some natives around her were giving her sideways glances, judging her obviously. "And why are people looking at me funny?"

**_To them, you're talking to yourself._**

"Great…so no one can hear you." Ally mumbled ungratefully, knowing she had to keep her voice low to avoid more stares. She already knew she didn't belong here; they didn't need to know that, Ally thought. "I must be losing it."

**_Do not fail me, Allyson, I have chosen you for a reason._**

"Chosen me, for what?" Ally stopped outside the station doors and looked around. She was standing in the middle of a brick plaza. Around her were houses and stores, it seemed like quite the normal city. Something reminded her of America, possibly San Francisco since everything seemed to be built on a hill.

**_You need to fix this world._**

"How is this even possible? This isn't supposed to be real."

**_When your father created me, I grew a conscious, and I became who I was meant to be. And I thought to thank your father, I would create a real world where what you call 'a game' really exists._**

"You, made all this?" Ally gaped as she looked at all the different people who were all having their own conversations with their family members, friends. Nothing was organized; everything was living and moving about as they pleased. Ally, in simple terms, was in awe. "That's amazing."

**_It would be, if it were working properly._**

"What do you mean, working properly?"

**_I mean just that, now that the world does not have strings attached to it, there is free will, and more chaos has come from it than good. There is no way to get to the final outcome._**

"Final outcome?" Now that sounded more like something a computer would say, so suddenly Ally was having her doubts again if this was real or not.

**_People are making mistakes, as it is in their nature, but it is causing the darkness to rise._**

"And you think I can stop it…" Ally stated, rather than asked.

**_I know you can stop it. You have the brain to finish your father's work._**

"I know nothing about making a game!" She hissed, not wanting to draw any more attention to herself as she moved further down into the town.

**_No, but you know how to help others and fight. You are the key to fixing the adventure._**

"…What is it that you want me to do?"

**_I need you to_**** – **Kingdom Hearts' voice disappeared for a moment and it made Ally very nervous. She didn't want to be left alone here in god knows where. **_Get away. _**

"What?" Ally didn't like the edge in the mysterious voice.

**_They're here._**

"Who's here?" Ally asked desperately. She looked around frantically, not understanding what was coming. "Sora?" She asked hopefully.

**_No, he is not ready yet._**

"Not ready?" Ally blanked, she didn't know what 'he' meant by that.

**_Move!_**Ally's body miraculously moved on it's own.

"Ah!" Ally gasped as she fell to the ground, thankfully not face-planting. When she sat up, she saw what attempted to attack her. It was a nimble looking creature, a zipper for a mouth, completely silver. It had an emblem on its forehead and never stood still. "What, what are those things! Heartless?"

**_No, but both are part of the problem._**

"Care to elaborate?" Ally got up from the ground quickly as one of the strange creatures tried to get closer to her.

**_These creatures are known as Nobodies._**

"Nobodies…that's a weird name."

**_You must move._**

"Oh please, it's just a game." Ally huffed, crossing her arms in the process.

**_You do not know what you are dealing with. You must find safety, quick! _**Ally felt like she had no choice in the matter so she chose to flea the scene. Unfortunately the creatures, or Nobodies, caught on and started to follow her.

"Why are they following me?" Ally asked cautiously.

**_They know I have chosen someone to stop them, and they want to control me for themselves._**

"Then get lost!" Ally demanded. At this point she didn't care if she was screaming to no one and people were staring, she had to get away from the freaks following her, and getting hot on her heels.

**_I cannot._**

"What do you mean you can't? You're Kingdom Hearts, you said!" Ally spat.

**_I am, but we are connected._**

"Great." Ally turned a corner and to her luck she ran into a dead end. Well it technically wasn't a dead end. She was in an open square, possibly a place to host events and carnivals and such. Unfortunately she couldn't escape because Nobodies were pouring out of every entrance, meaning also every exit.

**_You must defend yourself._**

"With what?" Ally looked around frantically and found a type of sword, though it wouldn't do much damage she knew because it had a rubber end and looked like something a six year old would play with. "Oh yeah, this'll be real effective."

**_There's someone on the way._**

"Who?" A "Nobody" dared approached Ally and she swung at it with all her might but it simply moved around her, evading her attack. It struck her from behind the knee and she fell onto said knee. Ally quickly got up and started to take the situation at hand a bit more seriously.

**_You will know him when you see him._**Ally found it completely useless trying to fight these creatures as they wouldn't stand still and she wasn't used to fighting someone without them having a saber in hand. To Ally's dismay, one of the slippery creatures flicked the blue sword out of her hand and she was now left defenseless against about, ten Nobodies.

"Well, I would say it was nice knowing you, but I'd be lying…" Ally mumbled, almost like a prayer, hoping she'd wake up back in the swivel chair in her dad's office. Though somewhere in the back of her mind she was afraid she was seriously going to get hurt.

"Hold it right there!" Came a cheerful voice. Ally opened her eyes to see a quick flash of black and gold move around the Nobodies, striking them with ease. Once the person stopped in front of her, she had to hold in a girlish scream.

"Mickey Mouse?" Ally squeaked, trying not to startle her dark, stout hero.

"Huh?" He turned around and Ally found it odd seeing him with a hood over his face, it really made him look different. "How do you-" Mickey was about to ask her something until he paused and looked around, and then he smiled at no one in particular. "Oh, I see now."

"You do?" Ally asked, hoping her little friend would be able to be of some good use to her. "Please, explain!"

"There's no time!" Mickey deflated Ally's hopes of every finding out what has happened. "Kingdom Hearts will lead you to my friend."

'Yes, I'm not crazy! Mickey can hear him too!' Ally cheered in her mind. 'Should I be concerned I'm seeing Disney characters fighting monsters?'

"What friend?" Ally asked, trying to stay focused.

"Find someone who looks like me." Mickey said as he continued to bounce around, swinging a gold blade in the shape of a key. Ally found it shocking to see Mickey wielding a Keyblade with such power.

"Looks like you?" Ally questioned. "Uh, I'm guessing you don't mean that literally, unless you mean Minnie?"

"No, wearing a hood!" He restated.

"Okay, but-"

"I'll hold them off, but you have to move now!" Mickey ordered. He sounded a bit different than Ally had in mind, thought she wasn't disappointed in the least to see one of her favorite characters from her childhood save her. She has to remember to never mention to him that she has a stuffed animal still on her bed of him Ally's had since she was three.

"All right…" Ally was about to run off, once she found an opening, but before completely disappearing from the scene, she turned back around and shouted, "Be careful! I don't want you hurt."

"Gosh, don't you worry, I'll be fine." Mickey gave one of his famous laughs and carried on slicing and dicing the monsters.

**_You must move now!_**

"Don't yell at me. I'm going, I'm going!" Ally's head was beginning to pound furiously with the louder Kingdom Hearts shouted in her mind. Ally finally made it to a calmer part of town and began to look around. She was in the center of what appeared to be an outdoor shopping area. "So, if I was a Mickey Mouse wannabe, where'd I be?"

**_Remember, he does not look like the King._**

"But anyone who would want to-" Ally was running around looking for a person in black until she caught all of what the voice said. "Wait a second, did you just say King?"

**_There he is._**The voice completely avoided Ally's question and directed her mind to focus on someone on the other side of the shopping center near a trolley cart.

"Hey, you!" Ally called out as she cupped her hands around her mouth to amplify her voice. He turned to her, or what she could tell – with the hood it was hard to tell – however, the trolley cart moved in front of him and by the time it passed, the guy wasn't there anymore. "You kidding me? He ran away! Jerk…"

**_After him!_**

"Yeah, yeah I'm going." Ally ran across the shopping center and found a crack in the wall and went over to it, thinking that's the only place the man could've run off to. When she saw what was inside the crack, Ally's heels squeaked to a stop and she held her breath. "Uh…"

**_What is the matter now?_**

"I don't really feel comfortable going through a creepy forest." She admitted.

**_You have Nobodies at six o'clock._**

"Wait, your six o'clock or my six o'clock?" Ally looked at 9 – 12 – and 3 o'clock, her view, and suddenly realized she had company tailing her.

**Oh, just run!**

"Running!" Ally agreed as she sprinted through the woods, trying to lose the tailgaters in the mass of trees. "This is bad. Bad, bad, bad, bad!" Ally shouted as she finally found the end of the forest and halted again abruptly when she saw the old gates. "Great, first a creepy forest, now a creepy mansion…just my lucky day!"

**_You will be safe inside._**

"Right…" Ally was about to argue how it was probably worse inside, but when she saw the Nobodies behind her, she decided to swallow her comeback and run on through the open gates. When she got to the door, Ally swung it open and quickly slammed it shut behind her. Ally rested her back on the door and panted. The echo of the slam bounced off the walls of the old mansion. "Okay, now where do I go? You sure he went in here?"

**_I can sense him._**

"You can?" She moved away from the doorway, thinking she had to keep moving to stay safe. She wandered around the halls for a bit, observing everything. 'I would fire the decorator', Ally thought to herself. "Using what?"

**_I have the ability to sense when hearts a nearby as well as darkness._**

"Duly noted." Ally sighed. She bounced from room to room, trying to find any signs of the man, or maybe a clue telling Ally that he was there. "So which is he? Good or bad?"

**_Neither._**

"How can I trust him then?" Ally went to a new door and swung it open and walked in without noticing how different it was from the other rooms. There was a huge hole in the middle of the floor and Ally almost falling straight down. "WHA-!" Ally quickly gained back her balance and flew back towards the wall and stayed there for a moment to catch her breath. "That was close. Goodness you're distracting." Ally finally took notice of the hole in the floor. It was put there purposely. It fit almost the whole frame of the room ad lead to a weird room downstairs, the walls made of metal. It contrasted with the old wood of the rest of the house. "So this is creepy…" Ally said as she cautiously went down the metal staircase that leads to the bottom floor. She ventured around silently for a moment before coming upon a small room covered in computer screens. She went to the corner where something was already being displayed. Ally couldn't really understand what the stats or the charts meant but she saw a picture of someone she immediately recognized. "Is, is that Sora?"

**Yes, this is where he has been sleeping for the past year.**

"The past year? He's just been here?" Ally gaped, and she didn't know it'd be that long. A lot has probably changed in a year.

**Of course. Namine had to fix his memories. **

"Oh yeah, in Castle Oblivion." Ally recalled slightly from where she played a spin off game: Chain of Memories. Boy, was that one difficult!

"How do you know about that?" Came a new voice. It almost made Ally jump out of her skin, she was surprisingly getting used to Kingdom Heart's echo-y voice bouncing off the walls of her brain. Hearing a solid outside voice almost felt foreign.

"It's you…" Ally noted that the hooded man she was chasing was leaning against the wall casually with his arms crossed. "No more running away."

"I wasn't running away." He noted indifferently.

"Then what do you call you did when I called out to you?"

"Leading you here." He said coyly as he turned around to enter a new room. Ally didn't have a very good comeback for that answer, since in some twisted way it made sense. So she ended up following him instead.

"…Fine." Ally sighed. "You sure you're working with Mickey?"

"Yes and no."

"That's highly suspicious." Ally retorted.

"Look we don't have much time." He said slowly approaching her.

"Time for what?" The man quickly grabbed her hand and Ally freaked. "Hey—wait!" He was about to place his hand over her middle finger, where a ring was placed. Ally swiped his hovering hand away from her right hand resting in his strong grip. "My dad gave me that ring for my birthday…"

"I'm not going to touch it."

"Then what are you doing to it?" Ally asked cautiously.

"You'll see, now hold still." The man remained silent for a moment as he made a circular motion with his hand before clasping his hand on top of hers. There was a bright light that consumed the small hallway they were in. once it died down, the man removed his gloved hand and stepped back from her.

"What was that light?" Ally asked.

"You ask too many questions." The man huffed as he headed towards another door.

"Psht, whatever…" Ally scuffed as she suddenly noticed weird containment pods of some sort decorating the left side of the hallway. "Is that, Donald and Goofy?" Ally gasped as she ran over to the pods containing some of her other favorite characters. Ally's panic soon faded away and she was washed over with realization. "Oh yeah, they went to sleep too."

"You seem to know a lot…" The man noted.

"I have good informants." Ally answered, averting an interrogation she would surely lose. I mean, how much was she allowed to say, if anything at all? While Ally was thinking, she failed to notice the man created a black portal he was about to enter. "Wait! Where are you going? What am I supposed to do?"

"Talk to Roxas."

"Who, and where?" The man said without stopping and finally the portal disappeared to reveal a door sliding open for Ally to enter in next. "Guess that answers where…"

The strange man disappeared and Roxas had a flashback to the last dream he had, his last dream ever…

"You're wrong." Roxas heard Sora's voice ring out through his head. "I know, without a doubt, that Kingdom Hearts, is light!" A door opened and someone was engulfed in a magical and blinding light.

**Do you understand? **Came a booming voice. He somehow knew the voice, but not knowing from where.

"Yeah…"

**You will not be alone. There is someone here to see you. She will help you.**

"Who? Namine?" Roxas asked hopefully.

**No, someone who will keep you alive through her memory, from there, she'll be connected to Sora through you. **

"Sora…" Roxas sighed as he stared at the boy in the pod.

"Roxas…?" Came a questioning voice from the other side of the room.

"Huh?" He turns around and sees Ally. When Ally entered the room, she was surprised to see that Roxas wasn't really there, he was a hologram, but in front of him was a pod. Floating inside the pod was Sora. "Who are-" But then gets a revelation from when that voice spoke to him before. "Oh, it's you…" He says a little cheerier with a small smile.

"You were expecting me?" Ally mused suspiciously.

"Sort of. I guess you can say someone told me you'd be here…"

"Let me guess." Ally mused. "An omnipotent voice that you just feel like you have to listen to?"

"Yeah, I guess you know what I'm going through."

"In a manner of speaking." She smiles sympathetically at Roxas, who returns the action. "It's nice to know 'he' decides to torture other people besides me."

"It is almost like torture…" He laughed lightly. "Though thinking my life is over is a little too much to handle."

"Yeah, that's sort of how I feel. I was taken away from my family and friends too and thrown into this mess."

"I guess we're more or less in the same boat." He sighs as they stare at each other, finally feeling a little less alone.

"Yeah…" She agrees with a small smile.

"I'm sorry…"

"I'm sorry too…if only it could end differently…"

"Eh it's okay." Roxas pauses and turns his head slightly away from Ally's direction. "Can I ask you to do something for me, when I'm gone?"

"What is it?"

"I need you to help him – me, whatever – to make it through, at the end of all this I have a feeling I'll be reunited with someone."

"Really?"

"Yeah, her name's Namine."

"Ah, so it's a girl…" Ally smirked, though she couldn't help but recognize that name from a spin off game her father also worked on, Chain of Memories, with a girl named Namine that could fix Sora's broken memories, reason why's he is here. Ally forgot about that side story, but as she thought about it, she also remembered some Organization in black hoods involved who were forcing Namine to listen to them. She suddenly thought back to Mickey and the mystery man in the hoods. Were they betraying Sora and the gang?

"It's-it's not like that…" Roxas said sheepishly scratching the back of his head. "I just know that she's like me…A Nobody…"

"You're not a nobody, Roxas." Ally said honestly as she took what he said the wrong way.

"No, not that kind of nobody, though it makes sense why we're called that…Sora and I are one and the same…but right now, it's Sora's turn to wake up, and I must sleep…the same thing I think happened to Namine, and she said we would see each other again…"

"So she has someone she's apart of too?"

"Yeah, and I need you to reunite Sora with whoever that is…"

"But, who is Namine's other half?"

"I'm not sure…"

"Then how am I going to help you?" Ally asks breathlessly. "I do want to help you, I can tell this relationship with Namine means a lot to you." She paused and decided that it meant a lot to him so she decided to go along with it. "How will I know when it happens?"

"You'll see me again when it happens…that's a promise."

"I will? You'll be okay?" Ally asked, thankful to hear that. She was really starting to like this kid, even if just meeting him a minute ago.

"Yeah, even though it may not be obvious, I'll always be there, but I'll only be truly awakened when I see her again. She said even when we don't recognize each other, when we meet, everything will be okay."

"Wow…" Ally breaths as she takes in the sincerity in his voice. "Okay, I'm making this an official promise." She takes his hand and wraps her pinkie around his. He's confused by her actions but before he can question what she's doing she starts to speak again. "I, Allyson, promise to reunite you, Roxas, with your significant other."

"Well you don't have to say it like that…" He staggers as he starts to blush. Suddenly Roxas starts to shimmer and he gets a headache and falls to his knees in pain.

"Roxas…!" Ally kneeled down to his level, but unfortunately she couldn't help him since he wasn't really there.

"Guess I've overstayed my welcome…" He said glumly as he looked away.

"This isn't fair, you can't go; this shouldn't be happening."

"It's okay, I've now accepted the fact that I'm going to be gone after this, so be there for Sora, and if not, be there for me at least…" He slowly started to get up. "We're, one and the same after all…and it's strange, although we just met, I feel like I can trust you." He said genuinely as he stared at her, standing up completely on his own, the pain now subsided, though he was fading faster now.

"But, but Roxas, how am I going to do that? I may be handy with a sword, but I can't go into combat without my gear, I'm not trained in fighting those weird creatures…and I'm not from here…" Ally wishes to complain more but Roxas interrupts her.

"Take care of him…" Roxas said smiling at her. Then he quickly moves his hands from her hands to her arms and places his lips gently on her forehead. She stunned obviously, not seeing that coming. He breaks away and says, "Now, through me, you'll be connected…" Roxas starts walking away, Ally still in shock and bewildered by his actions stays quiet, "Sora…" He stares up at the small pod at the sleeping boy "You're lucky." Roxas exhales a big sigh. "It looks like my summer vacation is…over." and before he disappears for good, Ally screams out,

"W-wait! You can't just do that and leave!" She screams at him in a scolding tone while her cheeks continued to turn red, but Roxas doesn't stop. In a new tone Ally calls out, "Roxas!" He turns his head back to face her, almost completely faded. "…I'll try!"

"Thanks." And with that Roxas disappeared in a bright light. "And, it was all I could think of to connect you…" Ally heard Roxas say, still able to hear his voice as the lights dimmed.

"Connect me to what?" Ally sighed to herself knowing he was gone by now. "Gosh, what did you get me into…?" Ally whispered looking up as he rubbed her neck.

**_Something that will change the lives of many, and the fates of those involved, and with save people from ultimate darkness. _**

"What are you talking about? You mean, like, similar to Riku and how he was consumed in darkness…?" Ally asked almost worried. She also wondered when she would run into the silver haired boy on the journey.

**_Exactly. There will be people you run into on your journey that you must help set free from darkness, or stray them from the path of darkness._**

"Okay…I'll do whatever I can." Ally tried to say with confidence, but it fled from her as soon as she entered the hallway.

**_You must._**

"Wow, you're expecting a lot from me aren't you?"

**_You are the key to everything, you will open people's eyes and hearts and maybe even your own. Your journey will be difficult, but it will be worth it. If you fail, you will not be given a second chance. This is no longer like the game you once knew, where you can simply just start over and try again. It is win, or perish._**

"No pressure or anything…" Ally sighed quietly to herself. "Thanks for the words of encouragement." She spoke sarcastically and louder so 'he' could hear.

**_No problem._**

"I can't tell if you get sarcasm or not…" Ally grumbled but curious too. But there was no answer to her thoughts. Ally sighed in aggravation.

She then continued to walk forward towards the pod that Sora was resting in. She's less than two feet away from it, just looking at the sound face Sora has as he dreams.

"Looks like, this is where it all begins…the start of our journey, right Sora?" Ally sighed to the boy she knew could not hear her but still continued to smile at his sleeping form. The machine starts to buzz and make noises, like it's letting air out. It glows and starts opening. Steam pours out of the machine as a still asleep Sora floats in mid air.

Ally stares at him, since this is her first real look at Sora, in person. He looked, older, from when she's seen him in the games, maybe it was because the pixilation in the game was incorrect, but she didn't know for sure. As she stared, she didn't notice that as the fog was leaving the pod, the suspension that Sora was in was lifting and he started the sink forward. When Ally noticed this, she staggered as he fell out of the pod and on top of her.

"Oh Gosh, you're heavier than you look…" Ally struggled to mumble aloud to no one in particular as she still held the sleeping Sora in her arms. She got down on one knee, and then two as she readjusted Sora so that his head was in her arms and his body was sort of in her lap. "Wow, you're still asleep? Gosh Sora, you're such a lazy bum…" She moved her bangs out of her face looking up at the ceiling, still trying to process the fact that she was here and Sora was asleep in her arms.

"…Kai…Kairi…?" She heard a soft voice say. _Or maybe not so asleep_…She looked down again and saw that Sora started shifting and his eyes were tightening. She panicked a bit, what was her story going to be, what was she going to say to him, Kingdom Hearts told her to start thinking about it before but she still didn't have a good answer as to what it should be. She hates lying and didn't want to lie to someone she was going to be spending so much time with…

His eyes were not almost fully open as she composed herself to the best of her ability and looked at him slightly confused, now getting into her persona.

"Kairi…who's Kairi? I'm Allyson." Ally said clearly but softly.

"Allyson…?" Sora said as his eyes were open fully and scanning her face, probably trying to figure out if he knew her or not.

"Yup, but call me Ally." She said giving him a small but genuine smile. "Here…up you go…" Ally strained saying as she helped him sit up so that he was in front of her. He stretched his arms above him and rubbed his eyes. Ally couldn't help but laugh. "How long have you been in there for…?"

"In…where…?"

"In that pod." Ally clarified although she was now more focused on the fact that Sora's voice was a lot deeper than she remembered, and also he got bigger too, his clothes looked small on him. He must've been in there for a really long time, well I guess it's not a quick process trying to put memories back together again after being separated. _Poor Namine…_

"Sora!" Two voiced that didn't change in Ally's mind yelled in unison. Sora and Ally turned their attention to the doorway and saw Donald and Goofy standing in the doorway. Ally had to repress a smile on her face as she and Sora got off the floor, although Sora didn't stay next to Ally for long, he went running over to his two friends and tackled them in a hug.

"Donald! Goofy!" He cheered. They all grab hands and jump around in a circle as Ally just stares and shook her head, although she can't help but smile at their little reunion.

"That was some nap." Jiminy says as he hops off of Sora's shoulder and stretches his little arms out.

"You mean we were asleep?" Sora questioned.

"I guess we musta been, or I don't think we'd be so drowsy…" Jiminy concluded.

"That's how I found you, falling out of the pod sound asleep." Ally said.

"Huh? Who are you?" Goofy asked.

"I'm Allyson, but everyone calls me Ally, and you are?" Ally questioned, remembering she can't call them by their names if they don't introduce themselves to her, she'd blow her cover.

"Well I'm Goofy." Goofy introduced himself.

"Names Jiminy, Jiminy Cricket." Said the small bug.

"I'm Sora."

"Donald Duck. Why were we in those pods? Did you put up in there?"

"Nope, I just came down here and found you guys sleeping in the pods. I don't have a clue how you got in there…" Ally responded.

"So, where are we?" Jiminy asked.

"You're in Twilight Town, specifically in the basement of an abandoned mansion." Ally answered, so far so good, no lying.

"When'd you think we went to sleep?" Goofy questioned the gang.

"Uh…" Donald dragged out.

"Let's see…we defeated Ansem…" Sora started listing.

"Yep." Goofy agreed.

"…Restored peace to the world…found Kairi…" Sora paused but then started remembering. "Oh yeah, and then we went to look for Riku. I think that's right so far?"

"Then what?" Donald.

"What does your journal say Jiminy?" Goofy.

"Gee, there's only one sentence…" Jiminy said shocked as he looked through his journal. "'Thank Namine'." Jiminy looked it over confused. "Hmm…I wonder who that is?" The gang looked between themselves, seeing if anyone recalled whom Namine was, but no one could remember and shook their heads.

"Do you know Namine?" Goofy asked as Donald looked over Ally suspiciously.

"Mm…" Ally mused, pretending to think if she could recall Namine's name from anywhere. "Can't say I do…Sorry…" Ally said shrugging her shoulders.

"You sure there's nothing else in the journal?" Sora asked looking down at Jiminy.

"Positive…it's been wiped clean." Jiminy stated almost baffled as he quickly flipped through the book.

"Some journal that is." Donald scuffed and Jiminy looked offended.

"Well, what do ya say we find out where we are and explore?" Goofy suggested.

"You want to lead the way, Ally?" Sora suggested.

"Hm?" Ally mused.

"Yeah, since this is your home, you should show us where everything is." Goofy agreed.

"Well alright then, right this way." Ally said as she gestured them to follow her out the door.

"Well looks like the gang's all back together…" Came a laugh and a black portal opened up. Ally knew from the get-go that it wasn't going to be her mysterious 'friend' she met before her talk with Roxas. His voice was more taunting and a bit harsh. A man in an identical cloak, however, appeared. Already, though, Ally noticed this guy was slightly shorter than her 'friend' and he was a lot skinnier.

"Do you know this guy?" Sora asked suspiciously.

"No…I was hoping you would." Ally replied.

"Is he trouble?" Donald asked.

"What gave you that idea? The black cloak or the fact he's blocking our only way out?" Ally asked rhetorically.

"Now you shouldn't be meddling, little Ally, your father wouldn't approve." Taunted the man in black. What he said made Ally's breath hitch in her throat.

"M-my father?" Ally turned towards the man. "What do you know about him…?"

"Not sure if I should say…" The man shrugged. "Not like you're going to be around for much longer to see what happens to him."

"I'd spill it, if you don't want me to spill your guts for you…"

"Think you're tough?"

"I don't think, I _know_." Ally knew she didn't have a weapon on her, but she did know how to use her fists as well, plus she knew her kicks her effective.

"Then let the games continue."

"Continue…?" Before she can get an answer the man lunged forward. He brought out weird circular weapons, surrounded with embers. She held up her hands in defense and her ring activates. The light shines bright and she hears a loud clash of metal. She adjusts her eyes and sees a sword in her hand, a very intricate designed sword that had the same pattern as her ring.

"What!" The man stepped back quickly. "How'd you get that?"

"I didn't even know I had this!" Ally replied, looking at the sword, not knowing exactly how it got in her hands.

"You just love playing up your character don't you?"

"I'm not acting!" She yelled as she pushed him off and he skidded a few feet away from her. She charged at him and he blocked and tried to swipe at her with his free hand but she kicked his elbow so he couldn't follow through. He groaned in pain and dropped his weapon.

"You think you can keep up this act?"

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"You can't protect him…I'm the only person who can get the job done."

"I don't see how you have much of a say in my life. Since after all, it's MINE!" The man suddenly shielded his eyes from here after she spoke, he looked almost in pain from her words.

"DRAT, that stupid light of yours is almost blinding. Now I see why 'he' chose you…"

"Stop with the nonsense! This ends." She gave one more strike and he dropped his weapons and they disappeared into a dark mist.

"Fine…you're capable…for now anyway…don't think I won't be watching you, and your little friends too."

"Just try, I'm not backing down anytime soon."

"Mm…I have my way…well, as you say, sayonara…" He gave a fake salute and disappeared into a ball of darkness. She relaxed from her fighting position and she allowed her arms to drop to her sides. She started to catch her breath and see finally glanced down at the sword with bewilderment. It was the finest thing she's ever seen, and it felt so right in her hands.

"Wow…!" Donald Duck mused.

"You can fight!" Goofy cheered.

"What is that?" Sora asked.

"…I'm not so sure myself…" Ally stated as she looks from their eyes back to her new blade. "I randomly got it from…a stranger."

"You would trust a stranger with something like that?" Donald asked suspiciously.

"Well it's not like I had much choice in the matter. He left before I could give it back to him." She stated. Suddenly her hand tingled and the sword disappeared in a bright warm light. She looked at her ring and it glowed faintly before returning to normal.

"Hey! Where'd it go?" Goofy inquired.

"That's similar to the Keyblade." Donald stated.

"They key-what?" Ally asked. She has to remember to keep asking questions because she can't know things.

"It's my weapon." He let it appear and then disappear. "See, so yours should come back."

"But, how?" Ally asked.

"Well, for me, the Keyblade appears when there's great danger, when my heart calls on its help."

"Hm, okay. I guess that makes sense…" Ally sighed as she looks at her hand again.

"Well anyway, let's continue out of here."

"Right this way." Ally signaled with her hand and the gang followed her. So Ally, with some difficulty she tried to cover up, lead the trio to the main part of the city, and she was planning on bringing them to the station when Sora suddenly stopped.

"What's this little area?" Sora asked as he stopped behind the group and looked at an area with gates in front that were left open and a hallway that was blocked off by a cloth hanging from above.

"Hm, you know what, I'm not sure." Ally said as she thought it over.

"Shouldn't you know?" Donald asked her.

"Well, it just never bothered me to check it out." Ally said to cover up her cluelessness.

"Well let's see what's back there." Goofy suggested, as he and Donald were the first to step through the gate and head back. Ally followed suit but then stopped when Sora spoke up.

"You know, I think I've been to this town." Sora stated suddenly.

"How come then you didn't know the name of it?" Donald asked.

"Hmm…Guess I must've imagined it." Sora said disregarding his thought.

"Come on then." Ally said, gesturing him forward with her hand, he followed suit next to her and they pulled the curtain away and walked through to an open room with furniture piled up and three kids, looking bored out of their mind, lounging about.

There were two boys and a girl. A boy with blonde hair and a black tank top with vest on top was playing with his watch, the second boy had blonde hair and a red jersey on and was staring up at the ceiling, and finally the girl with brown hair and a orange top had her hand in her hands as she shifted on the couch staring at nothing across the room. The blonde boy noticed first that they entered the room and looked up and looked like he was angry about something.

"What do you want?" The blonde kid asked rudely.

"Uh, nothing. Just wondering what was back here." Sora said scratching the back of his head.

"Now you know. This is our spot." The blonde kid said rudely once again. The kid in the red jersey and black hair came up to us and looked us up and down.

"Umm…"

"What?" Sora asked.

"You're…new around here, right? I'm Pence." The black haired boy introduced himself.

"Hayner. Nice to meet you, but we got stuff to do, so catch ya later." Hayner said rudely once again as he waved his hand in the air and left the hang out space.

"My name's Olette. Hey, did you finish up the summer homework yet? Independent studies are the worst, huh?" She asked, like Sora would totally understand what she meant.

"Homework?" Sora questioned. He looked back at us and we shrugged our shoulders.

"And we're not all new around here, Ally knows this place." Goofy said as he pointed his thumb towards me, which made me freeze in place. _Uh oh…_ she thought.

"Ally?" Pence questioned.

"You've never seen her before?" Donald questioned overly suspicious of her now.

"Hmm…I don't know." Olette said pondering her memories. Oh, no, they were going to bust her. She had to come up with an excuse fast.

"Well…that's because, I'm the year above you. We don't have the same classes on the same levels." Ally said suddenly, hopefully that would be a good enough excuse. She couldn't blow her cover already.

"Well I guess that makes sense." Pence concluded.

"Oh wait, I've seen you before, you're on the fencing team at school, right?" Olette questioned. _Wait, what?_ Ally wondered to herself, she was pretty sure there weren't any fencing teams in Twilight Town.

"Uh, yeah, you remember me from that?" Ally questioned, baffled.

"Sure, you're the captain of the team." Pence agreeing with Olette seeming to remember her too, which she didn't understand because she was lying.

"Yeah you're right. You were in the paper." Olette said.

"I-I am?" Ally stuttered. She was in the newspaper back at home for getting first place in a tournament, but how would they know that?

"Yeah, don't be so modest, you're great with a sword." Pence complimented.

"Hehe thanks." Ally thanks them uneasily, finding this to be very weird.

"You fight?" Sora asked intrigued, surprised I wasn't just lucky back there, or maybe thinking that she had been fighting well thanks to her weapon.

"Well…no, I don't '_fight_' I fence, there's a difference." Ally stated, since she took her fencing quite seriously.

"But you're good with a sword. We saw you back at the mansion." Goofy asked.

"Yeah, I'd say so." Ally said.

"Getting first three times in a row isn't just 'good'." Olette commented making Ally sort of blush.

"Wow, you, certainly remember a lot don't you?" Ally asked sort of suspiciously, although she didn't mean to, she just wanted to know where Olette got her information from, or from whom.

"It said that underneath the picture, so I remember that much." Olette stated.

"Hey, what're your names?" Pence said addressing Sora and his friends.

"Oh sorry. We're Sora, Donald, and Goofy." Goofy introduced them selves as he pointed to each of his friends.

"Hey there." Sora said as he gave a little wave. Pence and Olette look at them oddly and then look at each other.

"Sora, Donald, Goofy, we just met someone who was looking for you." Olette said. _Well that's strange…I didn't think anyone but the king knew where they were_, Ally thought to herself.

"He sure seemed in a hurry. He had a black cloak on so I couldn't see his face, but he had these big round ears." Pence said imitating with his hands just how big the person's ears were. The group thought about it and then came to the same realization.

"The king!" Donald as well as Ally yelled out. Donald and Ally exchanged looks, and on the inside, Ally was yelling at herself to have stayed quiet.

"You know the king?" Goofy asked.

"Yeah, that's why I was in the basement of the mansion in the first place, because he sent me down there to find something, and then I met the other guy and he gave me an upgrade to my ring. Then that's when I ran into you guys. Maybe he meant for me to find you." Ally concluded as she thought about it more. _What else could the king have meant by going to the mansion?_

"Where'd you see him?" Sora asked Pence and Olette.

"At the station." Pence said.

"The station! Thanks!" Sora said.

"Well, we'd better get back to that assignment." Olette said walking out of the hang out area.

"Later!" Pence waved as he quickly followed his friend out.

"Oh boy! The King's trying to find us!" Donald cheered.

"Yeah, let's get to the station." Sora said.

"I know how to get there." Ally chirped.

"Alright then, lead the way." Goofy said, letting Ally go first under the tapestry covering the exit.

"Okay, and thanks." Ally said as she stepped through the opening and waited for them to pile out to then lead the way to the station, the first place she saw in Twilight Town.

As Ally led the way to the station, she thought about her interaction with Pence and Olette in the hang out area. How did they know she did fencing? How did they know her at all?

**_You're welcome._**

"Wait, _that_ was your doing?" Ally whispered in surprise to Kingdom Hearts talking to her again, but she had to be careful, seeing as Sora and friends weren't too far behind.

**_You were put into a corner by the wizard when he asked those two if they knew you, I had to intervene and prevent them from being suspicious of your condition._**

"So you put, _fake memories_, in their brains?" Ally whispered a little panicked by the thought that Kingdom Hearts could do that.

**_Yes, I am Kingdom Hearts after all…I can do many things._**

"So I see…" Ally sighed out as she continued to trudge forward up a hill. She was going to continue talking with Kingdom Hearts, wanting to know more about exactly what 'he' could do, but Sora came up next to her and asked.

"So, you ran into the king before meeting us?" Sora asked as we walked.

"That's right." Ally said, wanting to keep is short and sweet so she didn't have to lie, since she's lied enough today she thought.

"So he really is here?" Goofy asked.

"Yeah, but I saw him a while ago, so we should pick up the pace and make sure we don't miss him." Ally said.

"Right." Sora agreed.

"Let's go!" Donald cheered.

"Someone's excited." Ally laughed.

"We haven't seen him in a while, with us being asleep and all." Sora piped in.

"That makes sense." Ally laughed lightly. They were nearing the station when they all felt a presence. They stopped where they were and looked around, then all of a sudden these white things came out of nowhere.

"Ally, stand behind us." Sora instructed, getting his guard up.

"Oh no, not these things again!" Ally sighed in frustration.

"You've seen them before?" Sora asked.

"They attacked me before, but the king came and intervened." Ally said.

"Well, they shouldn't be any different from the Heartless, so let's go guys!" Sora cheered as they all headed into battle against the unknown enemy.

Ally felt really wimpy as she watched the gang fight, she was a good fighter, well fencer, and wanted to help out. Then she thought back to what the mystery man said earlier to her and looked down at her ring. He said it was meant to protect her and come in handy, but she didn't know how to use it. Ally wondered what it was meant to do. She saw that Sora and his friends were having a harder time the more they fought to hold off the enemies.

**_You won't know until you try, don't be afraid. Hold out your hand._**

"Alright then, let's see…" Ally mumbled to herself. She cautiously held her hand out in front of her; her ring then glowed brightly, blinding her momentarily. When she opened her eyes, she saw she was holding the sword from before.

"What, what is this?" She questioned in a frightened tone aloud as she examined the blade in her hand.

**_It's called Brave Heart. It'll protect what means most to you and will grow stronger as your journey progresses, it is just as strong as the Keyblade; take good care of it. Treat it as if it's an extension of your heart. _**

"Alright, let's see what this thing can do." And as Ally said that, she saw two enemies coming her way. She raised the blade in her right hand in front of her as she lifted her left hand above her head, just like she did if she was training. One challenged her by flying towards her and she stepped forward while extending her sword forward as well and tried striking it.

To her misfortune, it slipped right around her blade and attacked her back. She got pushed forward and onto one knee. Not liking how it got the best of her already, she got up, but this time with a new energy powering her, she decided to tap into that energy and started fighting, although differently than what she's used to. She felt her body shifting differently than what she's used to, but she was managing to land blows to the enemy, although the way they kept attacking, it didn't seem to do much.

She continued to attack and even managed to make some disappear, but when one fell down, two more replaced it. She realized that she and the gang were being pushed back into their circle again in the middle, surrounded by the enemy, Donald and Goofy fell to the ground in exhaustion in unison, with Ally following soon after, realizing that the energy she once felt was not depleted. Sora staggered a bit, still wanting to fight, but fell as well.

"This is ridiculous, there's too many of 'em." Donald complained.

"One falls down, and two more take its place." Sora agreed, panting due to his exhaustion. Then they all realized that even though they were down, their enemy was well ready to attack, and when they all started charging together at the group, they shielded themselves.

"Well this was nice while it lasted…Game over." Ally mumbled, as she fearfully waited for the pain to come. But as she sat there with her new blade in front of her, closing her eyes as well, she didn't feel anything, and instead heard someone slashing at the enemies, until the noise died down and it was quiet.

_Was this Sora's doing? No, I can feel his shoulder next to mine. So who was it that got rid of the enemy?_ Ally wondered.

Ally squinted her eyes open, letting curiosity get the better of her. As she opened her eyes and slowly let her blade drop lower, someone she recognized right away was in front of her, holding a Keyblade that looked much like Sora's but the blade was gold instead of silver. Ally was about to call out to him but then felt someone put their hands on her back and pushed her down on the ground.

"Your Majesty?" Donald asked in shock.

"Shh!" He said. Ally looked up to see who was pushing her into the ground and saw that Donald was on Sora's back and Goofy was on her back.

"Uh, Goofy, can you please get off of me." She asked politely though strained because she was uncomfortable.

"Gawsh, sorry bout that Ally." Goofy apologized.

"It's alright." Ally mumbled to him as she rubbed her back that felt sore.

"You gotta board the train and leave town! The train knows the way." The King instructed. His posture loosened and he stepped closer to the gang and held out an orange pouch. "Here." He said. Sora took the pouch and the three guys examined it. Ally still stared at Mickey, who then looked at her and said,

"Guess you found out what the ring does, use it well and stick with them. Good luck!" And then he ran off to who knows where. Donald was the first to notice he ran off.

"Your Majesty…" Donald left where the group was standing and went to go follow as he extended his hand but The King was far gone and out of view at this point.

"The King…was that really him?" Sora piped up.

"It coulda been…Yep, I know it was!" Goofy chimed.

"Now we know he's okay!" Donald said.

"The king was locked in the realm of darkness, right?" Sora asked.

"Uh huh." Goofy agreed.

"But we just saw him…" Sora said as he crossed his arms as he continued to think aloud.

"Yep!" Donald said.

"What are you getting at?" Ally wondered.

"And if The King's here, that means Riku's here!" Sora cheered happily.

"He's gotta be." Goofy agreed.

"Who's Riku?" Ally questioned, although she knew perfectly well who Riku was.

"He's my friend back at home, on our last journey, he and The King both got locked behind the door to darkness. But I guess both of them got out. I'm gonna go look for him. Then he and I can go back to the islands together; our home. Kairi is there waiting for us!" Sora said looking at Ally to fill her in so she doesn't feel lost.

"What are you two going to do?" He asked finally. Donald and Goofy then gave looked at each other while contorting their faces weirdly and then back at Sora.

"Gawrsh, Sora. Do ya have to ask?" Goofy asked. Sora and Ally looked at each other, smiled and started laughing.

"Hey! What's so funny!?" Donald asked angrily.

"Your faces!" Sora said pointing at Donald and Goofy while holding his stomach.

"They're priceless!" Ally agreed still laughing. Donald and Goofy, still having their expressions on their faces looked at one another and then started laughing at each other, and everyone was laughing together.

"What do ya say, guys? Let's stick together for one more journey." Sora asked and stated. Donald and Goofy nodded their heads in agreement. Sora then looked over at Ally.

"Say, wanna come with us?" Sora asked smiling brightly. Ally looked shocked for a moment, thinking this was going to be a dream come true or a complete nightmare. She shook her thoughts away and focused on the question.

"Well, The King said I _should_ stick with you guys, so sure, why not? Don't want to disobey The King." Ally said.

"Alright with you guys?" Sora asked his companions.

"Yeah, I don't want to mess up the trio by making it a quartet." Ally added.

"That' fine by me." Goofy said smiling as well as Ally returned it. "Whatdya think Donald?" Goofy asked his long time best friend.

"…Okay, you can come." Donald said after staring at Ally for a moment but then agreeing.

"Alright, so let's start our journey. To…where again?" Sora asked absentmindedly as he put his hand behind his head.

"We hafta board the train!" Goofy stated.

"Oh yeah!" Sora said as it dawned on him and Donald and Ally sighed in unison. They looked at each other, seeing as they did something together again and Ally smiled as Donald stared but his bill perked up on one side slightly. "C'mon!" Sora cheered.

As the gang walked up the stairs and entered the station, a voice from behind that seemed familiar called out,

"Wait up!" The gang turned around and saw the three kids from before approach them.

"Huh?" Sora said as he saw the three stop in front of them.

"Hey, Sora…" Hayner started saying.

"What?" Sora asked.

"Nothing, but…" Hayner said trailing off.

"We came to see you off." Pence finished Hayner's sentence. "It just seemed like something we oughta do."

"Oh…really? Thanks!" Sora said smiling at them. Above the group's ears a bell chimed, meaning that a train was pulling into the station.

"You should hurry and get your tickets." Olette said.

"Right." Sora said as he went up to the ticket booth behind the group and pulled out the pouched filled with money to pay for the tickets.

"Huh?" Olette said as she stared at Sora.

"What is it?" Donald questioned. Olette went digging through her back pocket and to everyone's surprise; she pulled out a replica of it.

"They're the same." Goofy stated.

"Yeah." Olette said as she looked at the bags. Sora looked at the bags too but shrugged his shoulders and went to ask for tickets.

"Three, no, four tickets, please!" Sora asked as he corrected himself. The man behind the booth nodded his head, as he got the tickets, Sora looked back at Ally and smiled sheepishly as Ally waved her hand in the air, meaning she didn't care and smiled back at him.

"So, what if they're the same?" Ally wondered.

"It's just…I made this bag myself." Olette said quietly but loud enough for Ally to hear.

"Huh, weird…" Ally said to herself. She thought back to when The King handed them the bag, she wondered where he got the bag from. Before she could think about it more, she saw Sora coming back, with four tickets in hand.

The whistles of the train stopping in the station sounded, meaning it was time to board. As they group turned around to face it and head up the stairs, Ally turned around and looked at Sora, who hadn't moved from the ticket booth.

"Something wrong, Sora?" Ally asked as everyone else stopped walking and turned around to face him.

"I can't help feeling like we won't see this town again…" Sora said sadly as he stared at the train parked. Ally looked from Sora to Hayner and his friends and saw they had the same look on their faces. Wonder what was making them all so sad to see each other off?

"Why not?" Donald asked.

"You're thinkin' too much." Goofy said.

"Yeah, you're right." Sora said and as he did, his mood completely changed. _Gosh, even in person Sora always seems to be smiling and keeping a positive attitude_, Ally thought. _He really is something else…_

Ally looked back at Hayner's group and saw that their mood changed as well, they're not sad anymore. _Wonder if there's a connection?_ Ally thought.

**_Everyone's connection to Roxas, like these three, feel sad that Sora is leaving because even though they do not remember Roxas, they feel that something apart of their lives is leaving them, possibly for good. _**

"They knew him…?" Ally whispered to herself, not wanting anyone hearing her. _Wow, Roxas didn't even get to say goodbye._

**_That is the fate of a Nobody, as tragic as it is, all Nobodies must leave their lives behind to fulfill their destinies, joining back with their hearts to become whole._**

"Tragic indeed…" Ally mumbled aloud.

"What's tragic?" Sora said from next to her, which startled Ally a bit.

"Oh, nothing, just, that I have to leave without saying goodbye to my family." Ally said covering up her mistake, another lie.

"Oh yeah, I forgot, this is your home." Sora said.

"Y-Yeah." _Here comes the guilt_, Ally thought to herself as she agreed. "But I'm excited to explore new worlds, go on a journey with you guys, it'll keep my mind off of the idea I'll be away." Ally reassured Sora.

They all reached the top of the stairs and stopped in front of a purple train with a wizard's cap in the front of the train. The outside was accented with gold and the windows were in the shapes of stars.

"Okay, let's go!" Sora said. We all nodded our heads and Donald and Goofy boarded onto the train I was just about to hop on as well when Olette called,

"Bye Ally!" Ally looked at her first oddly, confused why she was being so friendly, but saw that Hayner and Pence also waved her off.

"Oh, bye you guys!" Ally said trying to smile brightly and giving a small wave to the people she knew nothing about but treated her almost like a friend. She looked at the seats and sat on the plush seats and sighed as she slid a bit.

**_I know you feel guilty about lying, but it is for their best interest they do not know where you originated. It would mess up the balance of this universe._**

"I know that…but it doesn't change how I feel." Ally very carefully whispered under a sigh, as she didn't want Donald or Goofy to hear. She looked through the door, since she was near it and listened in as Sora said goodbye to Hayner, Pence, and Olette.

"Hey, Sora. You sure we haven't met before?" Hayner asked as he gave Sora a weird look, like he was trying to look into Sora to find an answer. Sora stood there and thought about it.

"Positive." Sora said. "Why do you ask?"

"I dunno." Hayner admitted as she shook his head, probably trying to get rid of the feeling he was having like he knew Sora, when he indeed knew him, well at least half of him…Sora looked at all of them and smiled, but then, something changed on Hayner, Pence, and Olette's faces. Sora then stiffened and touched his cheek.

"Huh?" He said as he wiped his face.

"You okay?" Olette asked concerned.

"Y-Yeah, don't know where it came from." Sora replied. _Did Sora just…cry? _Ally thought. _Wow, Roxas must have had a really strong connection to the three of them if he made Sora tear up_. Ally thought as she looked down, feeling bad that Roxas couldn't say goodbye himself.

"Pull it together." Hayner laughed slightly as Sora patted his face.

"Well…Se ya." Sora said quickly as he turned around and headed onto the train and turned around to face the door as the three friends came to it. Sora waved and closed the door. The train backed up and slowly made its way out of the station. From the window, the gang could see Hayner and Olette waving at them as Pence followed the train but then stopped and smiled and waved as well.

The gang, mainly Ally and Sora, waved out the window to them until they couldn't be seen anymore and the train picked up speed, leaving Twilight Town and it's clock tower behind.

They all sat there silently on the train as it left. Goofy and Donald were looking out the window, wanting to see the rest of what Twilight Town looked like. Ally sat on the seat sadly, carefully watching as Sora continued to stand by the door looking out the window. Sora then shifted and looked into his pocket and took out the pouch that matched Olette's. He went through it and took out a small blue crystal ball. He examined it for a long time, like he knew what it was, and then held it out in front of him so that it would catch the light. Ally had a strong feeling that it belonged to Roxas beforehand.

"You know…I'm sad." Sora said as he brought the ball down so that it was resting in his hand again. He looked like he could cry.

"We'll be back." Donald said, although he didn't know himself if they'd be back, he just wanted to cheer up his friend.

"Yeah. We can visit Hayner and those guys again." Goofy agreed. Sora sighed as a bright light shone through the windows and the scenery outside changed from a sunny Twilight Town to a dark space with lights that resembled the Northern Lights shined outside. Ally couldn't help herself but look outside in amazement.

"Whoa, so this is what's outside Twilight Town…" Ally said.

"Oh yeah, you've never traveled outside your world before." Goofy said.

"That's right." Donald realized too.

"Well we're going to be doing that quite a lot on this journey, you ready?" Sora challenged.

"Oh yeah, I'm so excited to see what else is out there. Have you seen a lot of it?" Ally asked.

"Tons. It's really cool, but as we're out there, we can't let other people know we don't belong, although, there are some exceptions." Sora explained.

"Yeah, and who's fault was that?" Donald said smirking at Sora mischievously.

"That wasn't just my fault, swimming in Atlantica was really hard!" Sora protested.

"Atlantica?" Ally asked.

"It's an underwater world, where we had to turn into fish." Goofy explained.

"_Fish_?" Ally asked, quite frightened by the thought, although it was all an act and Ally was excited the most to meet one of her favorite princesses.

"Like mermaids." Sora clarified.

"Mermaids? There's no such thing…" She scuffed.

"That's what I thought until I turned into one." Sora said.

"Well are we going there…?" Ally asked curiously.

"Who knows? We might have to if there's Heartless and those other guys still lurking about." Sora said as he crossed his arms and thought about it.

"Heartless?" Ally asked, knowing that although her questions were probably annoying, she had to play the role of being clueless.

"Ugh, you have a lot to learn." Donald sighed in frustration. So for the rest of the ride, the trio explained, as best as they could, as to what was going to happen on their journey. They also talked about what they did on their last adventure. Ally absorbed every detail in, so that if she ever spoke about anything, no one would ever suspect her of knowing too much.

* * *

Sorry it was so super duper long! but hopefully that'll fulfill your hunger for now, just a little preview of the adventure to come.

I would love to hear your guys' opinions, is it worth continuing? What should I change? Likes/Disklikes? I really am only looking for constructive criticism, however if you wanna mention how you liked it and that's it, you can do that too!

Peace out for now!

OH and if you want to see pictures of Ally - I posted them on dA, they're kind of all over the place but they should all be in my Kingdom Hearts folder. It's under the same name. Stop on by some time!

It would mean alottttttt :3


	2. Chp 2 - Why do All Wizards Understad?

Thank you to Gry18 and Jennifer861 for reviewing my first chapter, and for that I've decided to post this chapter less than 24 hours later! So in other words, YOU'RE WELCOME! :P

You're giving me hope for this to look good and to continue so for that - THANK YOU!

Hope you like it!

* * *

Chapter 2: Why Do All Wizards Understand?

After many questions and answers were exchanged, the quartet realized that the scenery outside suddenly changed from the dark lit by the weird glowing lights to that of weird water surrounding them on both sides. It was orange and grassy mountains seem to be sticking out on top of the water, just barely. The train then stops suddenly and the door opens. Sora and Ally are the first to the door and they look outside at a piece of land that sticks out by itself and on top of it is a crooked castle covered in yellow brick and blue rooftops. Sora and Ally venture forward and stop again while Donald and Goofy walk ahead of them.

"I'm guessing you don't recognize this place, do you?" Ally asked as she sees the look on Sora's face: that of confusion.

"Nope, not a clue." He says, though not too concerned.

"Alright, well let's catch up to Donald and Goofy." Ally suggests.

"Right." Sora agrees, but right as they're walking away, a bright light shines behind them and they turn around and they're blinded. When they open their eyes, the train's gone, but the tracks are still there.

"There goes our ride…" Sora says as he laughs nervously and slumps his shoulders a bit.

"Guess that means we're not leaving the same way we came." Ally says uneasily.

"Nope, you afraid?" Sora asked sort of worried about her.

"Not, especially…concerned is a better word." Ally states honestly.

"Don't worry, we just gotta stick together, that's all." Sora says, although it was supposed to come out like he was assuring her, but it sounded like he was just reassuring himself.

"You're right." Ally says trying to shake away the nerves and pretend she didn't hear the tone of Sora's voice. "Let's go." Ally says turning around and walking forward to where Donald and Goofy were walking about.

"What's goin' on?" Donald asks as he and Goofy are staring at a tall man, or animal maybe since he has a tail on him bum, as Sora and I head over to them standing near the door leading into the castle. The person laughs.

"I've sent some of my lackeys inside to see if the master of this here tower's as big and tough as they say. Word is, he's a real powerful sorcerer. Which would make him the perfect bodyguard for me. See, it don't matter how tough he is – once he's a Heartless, he'll do as I say."

"A Heartless?" Donald says in shock as everyone but Ally gets into a fighting stance. Once Ally realizes there's going to be a fight, she follows suit and gets ready to take out her sword.

"That's right." The person continued. "They're those things that come outta the darkness in folks' hearts. Why, with all the Heartless at her side, my dear friend Maleficent is gonna conquer everything!" Once he said that, Sora, Donald and Goofy relaxed and got out of their stances.

"And since I got me a debt to pay, I'm goin' round to a bunch of different worlds and buildin' an army of Heartless, special for her. Why am I talkin' to you pipsqueaks anyway? Go on scram! I'm behind schedule as it is." The man said waving them off, still not bothering to look behind his shoulder, simply waving his hand in the air.

"You oughta find something nicer to do." Goofy said to the man.

"Says who?" The man finally turns around. Ally 's eyes widen as she sees it's Pete, but he's dressed differently than what she's used to, he's in some sort of dark suit.

"Wha…AAAH! It's you!" Said the stranger in front of them.

"Pete!" Donald and Goofy say together in shock.

"What are you two nimrods doin' here!?" The guy named Pete exclaimed.

"What are YOU doing here?" Donald asks angrily.

"You know him?" Sora questioned.

"We sure do! Pete's been causin' trouble for ages!" Goofy explains.

"His Majesty banished him to another dimension a long time ago. I wonder how he escaped?" Goofy wondered.

"You wanna know how, eh?" Pete asked laughing.

"Does it matter? Let's send him back!" Ally stated loudly to the guys then took out Brave Heart and pointed it at Pete.

"Why you little…I should turn you into a Heartless, but I shouldn't waste my strength on you. That's why I escaped, to get rid of brats like you. Well, Maleficent busted me out, but that just shows how important I am! And now your world — no, no, no all the worlds — are gonna belong to yours truly. 'Cause Maleficent is gonna help me conquer 'em!"

"Maleficent…huh." Sora said all-knowingly and looked at his two friends and started laughing almost hysterically.

"What are you laughing at!?" Pete asked angrily.

"Yeah, I don't see what's so funny about that." Ally asked in a hushed and confused tone.

"Why, Maleficent's power is so great-" Pete was going to boast on and on about her but Sora spoke before could say anymore.

"She's toast." Sora interrupted.

"Huh!?" Pete exclaimed.

"Sorry but Maleficent can't help ya now." Goofy said.

"Whadaya mean?" Pete asked. Donald started laughing. Pete then started fuming and pointed at the group, finally understanding why they were laughing. "You! So you're the ones that did it!"

"Well…we mighta had something to do with it." Sora said cheekily as he put his hands above his head.

"Not me though, that was all them, don't wanna take any credit." Ally admitted as she stepped to the side a bit, slightly afraid that Pete from where he was standing would belly flop her new friends into oblivion. If Pete wasn't fuming now, he now reached his boiling point.

"Heartless Squad! Round up!" All of a sudden, dark shadow like creatures, Ally remembered being called Shadows, rose from the ground. In the game, she remembered they looked cute, but in person, boy were they ugly. They were oozing with darkness in a sickly way that sent chills down her back.

"Get ready…" Sora mumbled to Ally from his shoulder as he brought out his Keyblade and Donald and Goofy brought out their respected weapons. Ally got ready to fight and held out her hand and concentrated, as her ring became Brave Heart again.

"You just wait!" Pete said angry that the group defeated his team of Heartless. "Nobody, and I do mean nobody, messes with the might Pete!"

"So, 'mighty' Pete, who lives in this tower anyway?" Sora asked curiously as he sarcastically used Pete's nickname for himself. Pete gave Sora an, are-you-kidding-me, kind of face before answering.

"Oh, ya don't know, eh?" He said regaining his composure. "Well, it's old Yen Sid. 'Course, he's probably a Heartless by now!"

"Master Yen Sid lives here!?" Donald exclaimed like he couldn't believe it. Donald then ran off towards the door to the castle, pushed it open despite its weight, and ran inside.

"Master Yen Sid is the King's teacher!" Goofy explained.

"Wow. Sounds powerful!" Sora admitted.

"Wicked, I wanna go meet him!" Ally said sounding impressed and eager to go inside too.

"Yeah, let's go!" Sora agreed as the three of them decided to head in doors.

- Castle fighting and Ally learning more how to fight Heartless

"Heartless, Heartless, Heartless!" Donald whined. "Things haven't changed a bit!"

"Well it's a good thing we're on the job, then." Goofy mentioned.

"So the worlds aren't at peace after all?" Sora asked disappointedly.

"Hey, maybe that Master Yen Sid guy will have some answers." Ally suggested.

"Yeah, let's keep going." Sora nodded, and they went through the next door.

"Master Yen Sid! It's an honor!" Donald says as he and Goofy are bent over below the table, bowing their heads in respect. Ally follows suit, not wanting to disrespect someone as powerful as Yen Sid.

"Hey there!" Sora said casually waving at him like he was just any ordinary wizard. Donald, Goofy, and even Ally were shocked by his carefree attitude.

"Sora!" Donald yelled at him. "Show some respect!" Ally even tried pulling him down to the ground so he would do so, but Yen Sid signaled with his hands for everyone to relax and stop bowing, which the three did and rose up to hear what Master Yen Sid had to say.

"So, you are Sora. Now then, have you seen the king yet?" He asked. He had a deep and knowledgeable voice, Ally noted.

"Yes, we did, Master. But we didn't get a chance to talk to him." Goofy explained.

"Yes…the King has been quite busy of late." Yen Sid noted.

"Why's that? Uh, Master…" Ally asked, remembering to add the title at the end of her question.

"That's a very good question indeed. But another would be as to who you are? I only foretold three would be coming to my castle." Master Yen Sid asked curiously leaning forward in his chair.

"I'm Allyson, Master Yen Sid, the King instructed me to stay with them on their journey." Ally responded.

"Ah, I see, and you are very important indeed, as Kingdom Hearts has put quite a lot of trust in you." Yen Sid concluded.

"What?" The original trio mused together in shock.

"You, you _know_ about that?" Ally asked, completely shocked.

"Of course, the power of Kingdom Hearts is radiating off of you, but only wizards advanced such as I can tell."

"Oh…so, do you know, by any chance, _why_, Kingdom Hearts chose me…?" Ally wondered allowed to him, in hope he could explain some things to her.

"It seems you have a strong connection in what is occurring in all worlds." Yen Sid said after he studied her for a moment.

"I-I do?" Ally asked perplexed.

"Hmm…seems you are not yet aware, I must not say more then, as you must journey and figure it out for yourself, as that is what Kingdom Hearts has just spoken to me."

"You can hear him too?" Ally asked as she sounded relieved she wasn't the only one.

"Kingdom Hearts has a voice?" Donald questioned.

"Kingdom Hearts is a man?" Goofy questioned.

"Kingdom Hearts is not a he, it's an idea that holds power, which has taken on the voice of a man for you to understand better. But there is little I can tell you about your journey, listen to it carefully and let Kingdom Hearts guide you." Master Yen Sid said.

"But, with the King preoccupied," Yen Sid continued. "It would seem that the task of instructing you four falls upon my shoulders. You have a perilous journey ahead of you. You must be well prepared."

"You mean…we have to go on another quest?" Sora asked in a whining tone. "I was looking forward to finding my friend Riku, so we could go back to the islands."

"Yes, I know. However, everything on your journey, Sora, is connected. Whether you will find your way home to the islands…whether you will return alone or with your friend…And, whether or not the islands will still be there.

"And the key that connects them all is you, Sora." Yen Sid concludes.

"I'm…the key?" Sora asks confused. He looks at his hand and sticks it out and waits a moment before bringing forth his blade.

"Chosen wielder of the Keyblade! You are the key that will open the door to the light." Yen Sid stated. Sora nodded his head and put his blade away.

"And you, Allyson, wielder of Shattering Illumina…" Yen Sid states as he looks at Ally's hand. She looks at it too and summons her blade.

"I thought this was Brave Heart?"

"Brave Heart is one of the many forms that the Shattering Illumina can take on. You must have a strong heart for Brave Heart to be its standard form."

"Wow…"

"You alone have the power to protect the balance of all worlds, sent forward by Kingdom Hearts to bring justice to those in need of it, and savior of those who are to be consumed in darkness." Ally looked from the blade, The Shattering Illumina, to Yen Sid. He gives her a look; a look that bore into her that somehow gave her the strength to feel more confident and got her to nod her head as well.

Yen Sid looked away from Ally and focused on Donald and Goofy who straightened under his gaze. Yen Sid then sat up in his chair, higher than before anyway, and waved his hand over the table, a puff of smoke appeared and once it cleared, a thick green book with a crescent moon on it was on the table.

"This book contains valuable knowledge that you will need for your journey. Study it carefully." Yen Sid concludes as he flips the book over so that it was facing the group as it landed with a thud on the table.

"Once you have finished, we will speak of the enemies you will surely confront." Yen Sid says as he closes his eyes and goes into a meditative state.

"Ally...?" Came a questioning yet almost sad voice from Ally's side. She doesn't turn her head to address him but instead looks at him glumly from under her lashes.

"I guess I have some explaining to do…" Ally sighs and Donald and Goofy look between the two teens and Donald sighs.

"Geez, looks like we'll have to be reading up, c'mon Goofy…" Donald grunts as he takes hold of Goofy's pant leg and tugs him towards the book.

"But…Donald…" Goofy struggled as he continues to stare at the teens as they venture a little way from where Donald, Goofy, and Yen Sid were.

"So?" Sora questions as she still hasn't looked at him properly.

"Okay, let me just say I'm sorry," Ally sighs as she finally looks at Sora but almost immediately regrets it, she feels like she really betrayed him and gets upset suddenly, "but how would anyone be able to explain that a powerful entity is talking to me subconsciously, and then get people to believe me?" She says defensively as

"Okay, I guess I understand, it does seem a little far fetched."

"Ya no kidding, it doesn't make sense anyway…"

"What doesn't?"

"Why I'm here, why I'm important to the g-…general function of the worlds. I didn't know any of this even existed until right before I met you."

"Well, like Yen Sid said, you were given the Shattering…"

"Illumina."

"Right." "You were given the Shattering Illumina for a reason, you must be capable of something great, maybe even have a powerful light inside of you like that weirdo in the black hood said back in Twilight Town."

"Yeah sure, because listening to what a 'weirdo' says is the smart decision."

"Hey, so he was after us and a little confused, that doesn't mean he's not a threat, I mean Donald, Goofy and I are used to that I guess, but it's not unusual that through all their nonsense they are able to figure things out before you can."

"Hm, I guess I never thought of it like that…could I really be capable of taking on this challenge?"

"Well as long as we're here, you'll be fine. You can always rely on us to help you through tough situations. Though sometimes not Donald, he gets a little temperamental, if you know what I mean…" He whispered.

"Ya, I've noticed that it's very hard to warm up to him." Ally laughed.

"Trust me, it took me a while too when we first met, he were always at each other's throats, maybe it's also because we're both stubborn, but hey, it's all worked out for the better."

"Let's hope the same goes for me."

"We need to get that self-confidence up a bit."

"Huh? No I don't. I just know when something's pretty hopeless."

"Nothing's ever impossible, don't worry about that. you should just be focused on improving your skills. We have a lot of fighting ahead of us."

"Me? Improve?" "Have you seen yourself in action, you're not fairing off any better than I am."

"Well excuse me, I've been asleep for a year."

"So you admit you're lazy?"

"Ah-no!" Sora almost sputtered.

"Mm-hm…" She said smirking as she held her smug look well.

"Well…well then what's your excuse?"

"I've never faced off against anything but people I've known in white suits with little rubber ends to my swords. This is a whole new playing field."

"Mm-hm…" He mimicked her as she crossed his arms in satisfaction.

"Well why can't you fight them like before? You've said you've gone up against these guys almost all the time!"

"I don't know…! Those guys were different!"

"Mm-hm." She mused once again.

"Sora is correct." Master Yen Sid interrupted.

"He is?"

"I am?"

"Those white creatures you faced were different from the Heartless you have previously faced in your past."

"But wait a sec—how come the Heartless are still running around, along with these new guys?" Sora asked.

"Your past endeavors did prevent an immense effusion of Heartless from the great darkness; make no mistake about that. However, the Heartless are the darkness made real—and darkness yet lingers in every heart. The Heartless are fewer, but while darkness exists in a single heart, it will be difficult to eliminate them." Sora, Donald and Goofy slumped their shoulders in disappointment after hearing that. They probably felt down since their whole quest last year was to vanquish the darkness.

"Gawrsh, that must mean…if everyone's heart were filled with light, them Heartless would go away!" Goofy concluded, looking on the positive side of things. Yen Sid nodded his head and continued.

"Now it is time to speak of the enemies you will encounter." Yen Sid directed our attention with the direction of his hand. Where he pointed a puff of smoke appeared and a hologram of Donald appeared, which caught Donald off guard. It didn't last long as it soon morphed into a Shadow Heartless.

"If one such as you, Donald, yields to the darkness in their heart, they too will become a Heartless. But you know this." The gang, including Ally nodded their heads. "The Heartless are always lurking and ever seeking to capture new hearts. Never let your guard down!" He warned, again the group nodded in unison. Yen Sid continued again.

"Now then…" He then pointed his hand back to where the hologram was and another one appeared, but of the white enemy that the gang first encountered in Twilight Town. "At times, if someone with a strong heart and will—be they evil or good—becomes a Heartless, the empty shell that they leave behind begins to act with a will of its own." The hologram of the Heartless disappeared and the white enemy remained. "An empty vessel whose heart has been stolen away…A spirit that goes on even as its body fades from existence—for you see, Nobodies do not truly exist at all."

"So that's what they're called…" Ally muttered to herself, also thinking back at how Roxas said he was a Nobody. Although it was quiet, Yen Sid nodded to her.

"Nobodies may seem to have feelings, but this is a ruse—they only pretend to have hearts. You must not be deceived!" Yen Sid warned the group. This made Ally feel uncomfortable, that's not what Ally figured from her interactions with Roxas.

"Nobodies…they don't exist." Sora said quietly to himself. Ally watched his reaction to the news. Maybe Roxas heard enough to have a reaction to make Sora feel confused about the topic. Before she could ask if he was okay, three more of the white creatures, Nobodies, that appeared as holograms and Yen Sid spoke again,

"Now then…the being you see before you is known as a Dusk. They are the most common form of Nobody. But there are others—some larger, some with frightening and unique powers. Be vigilant! On your journey, you will meet an alarming number of Dusks. They will all attempt to do you harm. Still," He said as the holograms vanished, "there are nothing but empty shells, destined to return to darkness. But," Yen Sid made three new holograms appear that showed large male figures in black cloaks, covering their faces, Ally stared in bewilderment as she remembered seeing them in her dreams before she arrived.

"The beings you see before you now are different. These powerful Nobodies have formed a powerful group called Organization XIII. It commands the lesser Nobodies." Yen Sid explained.

"Organization XIII…" Sora thought about the name aloud. He looked to his friends except for Ally, if they knew the name, but Donald and Goofy shook their heads no.

"That guy from before must be apart of them…" Ally mused as she remembered her fight with him. she also reflected on the man she saw before, the one who bestowed the power of the Shattering Illumina to her ring. Was he bad too? It angered her that she was manipulated like that. She looked at the ring, and even if it used to give her fond memories of her dad, she now felt distaste towards it, now it was infected and touched by such an evil force.

"So the Nobodies are stronger than the Heartless. Even the lanky ones?" Sora asked curiously.

"While Heartless act on instinct, Nobodies function in a higher manner. They can think and plan. And it seems they are working towards a goal. What that goal is, we do not know. The King sensed the danger and journeyed forth to fight it. He found the dark realm's Keyblade, and closed the door."

"But, why is Mickey-er, His Majesty, wearing the same cloak as the Organization if they're bad?" Ally wondered.

"That is because the cloak has special abilities that allow one self to be impervious to magic as well as conceals their identity." Yen Sid explained. "Now, the King is traveling from world to world, fighting the Heartless as he seeks the answer to the riddle of the Nobodies and Organization XIII." The holograms vanished.

"Then I guess we better go find the King first!" Sora announced, determination written all over his face.

"But where could he be?" Donald wondered.

"Well, we won't know 'til we look." Goofy said with an upbeat attitude as always.

"Yeah, and the King must know where Riku is, 'cause the two of them were in the realm of darkness when we closed the door." Sora hoped. "You know, after defeating Ansem." He looked back to Yen Sid.

"So, before you go, you will need more suitable traveling clothes." Yen Sid said as he held his hand out to a door on their right. "Those clothes look a bit too small for you." He said to Sora as he looked at himself, and it was true, he wasn't a little kid anymore. "And you, Allyson, will need new clothes as well, suitable for fighting and protect you from harm. Through there," Yen Sid said pointing towards a door on the far side of the room. "You'll find three good fairies. If you ask, they'll create for you appropriate garments."

"Gawrsh Sora, you sure are growing fast." Goofy commented looking at Sora.

"Uh, I guess…" Sora said as he played with his vest and laughed sheepishly. So the group headed over to the door and pushed it open. It was a circular shaped room that had windows spread out around the walls. There were bookshelves and tables along the walls. But what stood out were three women, one dressed in red, another in blue, and the third on in green, with pointy hats chatting amongst themselves in the back of the room.

"Me, you guys, Riku, and the King. I don't care who this Organization is or what it's planning. With the five of us—I mean, six of us—there's nothing to worry about, right?"

"Yeah!"

"Well, looks who's here, dears! It's Sora, Donald, and Goofy! And they brought a friend!" Said the red fairy.

"What's your name, deary?" The green fairy asked.

"I'm Allyson, but I prefer Ally." Ally said bowing her head in respect.

"And are you accompanying the young men on their journey?" The red fairy asked.

"Yes, I am." Ally said smiling at her new companions.

"Ooh, if you're looking for clothes, you've come to the right place!" Cheered the blue fairy running up to Ally and Sora excitedly.

"I'll do the designing." Called the green fairy. The red fairy took Ally's hand as the blue fairy led Sora to the center of the room while the red fairy started measuring Ally with her wand. Sora stood still as the three fairies gathered together as Ally waited on the sidelines. The green fairy waved her wand and the magic flew to where Sora was and covered him head to toe until his outfit was changed from it's original colors to green.

"Ooh, that'll never do!" The blue fairy complained. She waved her wand this time and Sora's outfit turned from green to blue.

"Now, now dears." The red fairy chided as she waved her wand and made the outfit red.

"But don't you like this better?" The green fairy asked the red fairy sweetly, trying to win the dispute between the colors and changed his clothes back to green.

"Hold on!" The red fairy said a bit angry this time and changed it to her color.

"Are you certain?" The green fairy asked changing it back.

"Blue!" The blue fairy yelled as she changed it. And for the next minute, no words were said as the fairies still fought over the color of Sora's outfit. Donald tapped his foot impatiently, Goofy fiddled with his uniform, and Ally leaned against the wall pinching the bridge of her nose.

"Aww, would you just decide?" Sora asked, although he wanted to be nice he couldn't help the way his question came out. The fairies gasped at his outburst but nonetheless calmed down after a moment.

"All right, then, together now dears. And no more squabbling!" The red fairy commanded in her dainty voice. They waved their wands together and their magic hit Sora together and the room was consumed in a bright light. Everyone shielded their eyes. Once it dimmed down, they all looked at Sora in his brand new outfit.

"Oh my!" The blue fairy sighed.

"Ooh, it's lovely." The green fairy gushed.

"Oh, yes! He does look very dashing!" The red fairy agreed. "Now, those aren't any ordinary garments."

"They have very special powers." The green fairy explained. The red fairy waved her wand and a yellow orb appeared in front of Sora.

"Take the orb dear." The red fairy instructed. Sora extended his hand and watched as it absorbed into his hand.

"And watch what happens." The blue fairy said sounding excited. A moment passed and nothing happened, then Sora started floating and his outfit was engulfed in bright light and flashed as it changed from what he wore before to the same outfit but in red. He floated down and looked at his clothes. But what really got his attention was his second Keyblade in hand.

"Whoa." Sora and Ally said together.

"Wow!" Donald said.

"Two Keyblades!" Goofy exclaimed.

"This journey's gonna be twice as difficult as your last." The blue fairy stated. Sora looked at the fairies and sighed to himself in aggravation.

"Your garments also have other powers—but you will have to discover what they are as you continue on your journey." The red fairy explained.

"Okay, I'll do my best! And thanks a lot!" Sora said.

"Now it's your turn sweety." The red fairy said looking at Ally. Ally looked at the fairies and nodded her head as she now headed towards the center of the room.

"All right, I already have a design picked out for the young girl." The green fairy stated.

"Let's discuss it so we don't have the same outcome as last time."

"Right." The green fairy agreed as she whispered her idea to the red and blue fairies, after a moment they nodded in agreement.

"Let's try it out." The blue said excitedly.

"Together, dears. One, two, and three." The red fairy conducted as they all cast a spell together on Ally's outfit and a blinding light shined yet again. Once it dimmed, the fairies looked at Ally pleased while everyone else including Ally looked at her outfit, shocked.

"Uhm, what is this?" Ally said looking down at their creation.

"It's a dress, dear." The green fairy said sweetly.

"Yes, I see that…" Ally stated slowly. "But, there's a problem." Ally said.

"I told you we shouldn't of added the corset!" The blue fairy whined.

"Nope, that's not it, although I get now why it's hard to breathe." Ally said caressing her torso. "But…" Ally said but thought better to show rather than say her reason for not wearing a dress. She held out her hand and her weapon appeared and the fairies gasped, since it was pretty necessary to bring it out.

"You wield the Shattering Illumina?" The red fairy asked in astonishment.

"Yes, I'm a warrior, and as such, I cannot kick butt in this dress if I can't even kick my legs up." Ally said attempting to kick but to no avail because of all the layers.

"All right, let's discuss a new idea then, ladies." The red fairy said and the three women gathered in a tight circle so no one could hear them. A cough was heard from behind Ally and she whirled around to stare at a laughing Donald as Sora and Goofy just stared.

"This…" Ally stated as she held the layers of her dress, "isn't funny…"

"Of course it is, have you seen your face?" Sora said holding his stomach.

"And you look silly!" Donald added, quacking away.

"She doesn't look silly, just not suited for fighting 'em Heartless." Goofy said.

"Thank you." Ally said. "Now stop laughing, Duck, or I'll clip your wings with Brave Heart," Ally said pointing the blade at Donald, to which he stopped laughing. "Good." Ally said putt her hands on her hips as her blade disappeared and she turned around, seeing as how the fairies were done discussing designs.

"Right, let's try this again." The blue fairy stated.

"Together." The red fairy said again as they waved their wands in unison. Ally saw the magic coming towards her and turned her head away and closed her eyes, a little afraid of what their new creation must be.

"Whoa!" The trio said from behind her.

"That's better." The red fairy stated.

"Much more suitable for fighting." The green fairy agreed.

"Ooh, you'll be able to do much more in that now than before!" The blue fairy said excitedly. Ally still had her eyes closed, but from hearing their reactions she couldn't help but start to open one eye and cautiously looked down. To her surprise, and to her approval, she looked much better. She opened both of her eyes and examined her new clothes. She was wearing a blue tank top under a sleeveless jacket with two tails at the end tipped a dark blue. On the back of the jacket was an upside down heart with a diamond in the middle. On her arms were sleeves that weren't attached to the shirt or the jacket, they tightly gripped Ally's arms so they wouldn't fall off and they were gray and trimmed with the same dark blue as her jacket. Black straps went across her body, holding the jacket in place. She also had dark blue shorts with a belt, black boots that went almost to her knee and sticking out were her white socks.

"Wait, where's my ring?" Ally asked scanning her right hand for the ring that summoned Brave Heart.

"Oh don't worry, we thought it'd be easier to infuse your weapon with magic, as Sora summons his Keyblade. We did that so you don't have to worry about someone stealing your ring or losing it." The green fairy explained.

"Now, take this orb. And you'll see, similar to Sora's your outfit has abilities of it's own." The Red fairy said. Ally did so and she felt power course through her body and her body began to glow and when the light vanished her outfit transformed and a new blade was found in her hand. Her outfit consisted of the same clothes, but the colors changed – her clothes, instead of being blue-black-white, were now yellow-black-white with a different design on the back of her jacket. She now had a six-pointed star with a cross in the middle – it reminded her of a metal a soldier would get for doing well on the battlefield.

"Now summon your blade and test it out." The red fairy said to do.

"Whoa, what's this?" Ally asked confused as she examined her new blade.

"It's still a Shattering Illumina, but it has taken on a new form, this is Soul Wing. It will help you in tough situations. It will appear when you are in danger, to lift your spirits and give you new power." The blue fairy said. Ally's body glowed, and then slowly reverted back to her regular clothes.

"This is your Order form, and with it comes a new blade." The green fairy explained.

"Wow, it's, so light, but it's smaller than Brave Heart." Ally noted as she swung it through the air once.

"That's because it's meant to deal swift but powerful attacks. It'll come in handy when your own strength is depleted." The blue fairy said.

"All right, thank you so much." Ally bowed.

"Our pleasure." The red fair said.

"But, can I can get my ring back, I know it was supposed to summon my weapon, but before that it was my father's gift to me, it's, sentimental." Ally said solemnly as she stared at her bare hand. The fairies nodded, though Ally didn't see and a small glow formed on her hand and her ring came back and Ally smiled down at it.

"Oh, and there's something else for you—from Master Yen Sid." The green fairy reminded the gang.

"Oh boy!" Goofy and Donald looked at each other excitedly as they all left the room to meet up with Master Yen Sid. They left the room saying their goodbyes to the good fairies and walked out of Yen Sid's chamber and into the hallway, where Yen Sid was staring out a window that was in the shape of a crescent moon. He turned towards the group and motioned with his hand for them to join him. They did as he instructed. As they drew closer, they saw a red and yellow ship with a glass dome on top rise from the ground to their level to see.

"Hey! It's the Gummi Ship!" Donald exclaimed as the original trio ran to the window, Ally followed short after.

"So, you guys ready to go?" Sora asked his friends. Everyone nodded in agreement, eager to get on their journey. They all piled into line and stood straight up like soldiers before Yen Sid.

"Now, now, just a moment." Yen Sid signaling them they weren't saying goodbye just yet. Everyone relaxed. "Because of your previous endeavors, the worlds have returned to their original states. That means the pathways between them have disappeared. "

"How do we get around?" Donald sighed sadly as his shoulders slumped forward.

"Do not fear. If what the King suspected proves true, the worlds have prepared new pathways along which you may travel. These pathways may be utilized by unlocking special gates. How these gates are opened, I'm afraid I do not know…" Yen Sid admits but then turns his attention onto Sora alone. "However, the Keyblade will serve as your guide. When a beam of light radiates from the Keyblade, return to the Gummi Ship." He turns to everyone once again. "Though the worlds may seem far apart and out of reach, they nonetheless remain connected by invisible ties. As do our hearts."

"Our hearts are connected." Sora said, in a tone that Ally had trouble recognizing.

"That is correct." Yen Sid said.

"Got it!" Sora said in his regular chipper mood.

"But be warned." Yen Sid said in an ominous tone. "As you proceed…the Heartless and the Nobodies will be using their own paths: Corridors of darkness, to travel from world to world. They may be attempting to link these dark pathways to the gates between the worlds."

"Hey, that's not fair!" Donald complains. Ally noticed that Master Yen Sid couldn't hide a small smile off his face at the comment and nodded his head.

"Now then," Yen Sid said, gaining back his composure immediately. "That is all the information I can give to you. Go forth, Sora, Donald, and Goofy. As well as you, Ally, go forth and learn to protect the worlds and keep the darkness at bay with your light. You still have much to learn about the worlds."

"And I will be right there helping you out!" Sora said suddenly wrapping his arm around Ally's shoulders and grinning. "Think of me as your very own tutor."

"Though Sora still has a lot to learn, he makes a point. You two must stick together, because only together can you defeat Organization XIII. Now go. Everyone is waiting."

"Okay, let's get going!" Sora said with a smile on his face, and everyone nodded in agreement. The four of them got back into alignment and stood straight.

"Master Yen Sid!" Donald started.

"We sure do appreciate the help!" Goofy said as everyone saluted. The four relaxed and started making their way towards the door.

"Allyson," Master Yen Sid called. Ally was about to step through the doorway out of the room but stopped before putting her foot down and turned around, which got the rest of the gang to stop. "Before you go on your journey, might I have a word?"

"Of course, Master." Ally said after talking a breath. She turned around to a curious looking Sora. "Go on ahead, I'll meet you out there."

"Uh, okay, we'll be waiting." Sora said slowly as he scratched the back of his head.

"I hope not to take too long." Ally said quietly as she smiled at him and waved him off. She watched as he ran down the stairs with Donald and Goofy then she turned around and closed the door behind her. "What was it you wished to speak to me about, Master Yen Sid?"

"I have been informed by Kingdom Hearts of your situation."

"Oh, you mean…'he' told you everything?" Ally asked hesitantly. Yen Sid only nodded in confirmation. Ally sighed. "Kingdom Hearts has not made this easy for me, has he?"

"I'm afraid not, child. One thing that is certain is that you do have the potential to carry out the request." He said encouragingly.

"To go on a perilous journey and save the world? I don't think so." Ally shook her head. "I may be a good fencer and I know some fighting, but that won't help me out in the field."

"It will be hard for you in the beginning, but the more you move forward, the lessons you learned along the way will build up your confidence and will help you to succeed. The answer lies inside you, unlock that potential and endure it."

"Easier said than done." Ally sighed.

"No one said it would be easy, Allyson. Even you must have understood that."

"I know, I do. But I just know this place as a game, bunch of zeros and ones that my father and co-workers created."

"This is nothing like what you have come to known. You are better off to forget what you once knew about this world, and keep hidden the truth, though the burden of your past will at points be greater than other times."

"Like that wasn't to be expected. I can't tell anyone, I get that; but the farther I travel with Sora, Donald, and Goofy, the more I will start to consider them my comrades, my friends, and I can't lie to my friends." Ally said in a matter of fact-like tone.

"The truth will eventually come out, but it cannot interfere with the chain of events, so the outcome is what Kingdom Hearts deems correct. You will be able to tell them eventually, but if and when they do ask about it, you must answer simply." Yen Sid said as he stared at an anxious Ally. She wasn't making eye contact with Yen Sid and found her new shoes much more interesting. When she looked up she sighed and shook away her worries.

"I understand, Master Yen Sid." She said firmly. "I will follow the will of Kingdom Hearts and I will give it my all."

"That's the fighting spirit you'll need on your journey. Now you may go and join your comrades." Yen Sid said dismissing her.

"Thank you for your wisdom, Master." Ally responded bowing in respect.

"Good luck, and prevail!" Yen Sid cheered. Ally who was heading back towards the door turned her head back to him, smirked, and nodded her head. She swung the door open and stepped through it, trying to fill herself with all the confidence she could muster as she walked down each step of the tower.

When she left the tower, she sighed and found as soon as she caught sight of the Gummi ship with the door still open for her to use, her confidence faded and she could feel her face pale.

"This is it…here I go." Ally said as she started walking towards the Gummi Ship. She got to the bottom of the ramp leading to the door and saw an impatient Donald tapping his webbed foot away as he had his arms crossed, staring at her angrily.

"What took you?" Donald asked in a bad mood of course.

"Sorry, Master Yen Sid went on a lecture rant about keeping up with you, Sora and Goofy because you're so much more advanced than me." She said, trying to sneak her way around Donald being mad at her by complimenting him; which of course with Donald worked. She walked passed him as she waved to Goofy and Sora who were sitting in their seats.

"Hi Ally." Sora said with a smile on his face. Ally couldn't help but smile back kindly and sat down and strapped in.

"Hi. So, are we going to get this ship up and running or what?"

"Yup, we are!" Goofy cheered as he started powering the ship's rockets and checking the fuel gages.

"Howdy, Sora! How ya doin'?" Came a squeaky voice from the monitor.

"Uh, who was that?" Ally asked suspiciously as she leaned forward in her seat.

"It's your favorite Gummi Ship engineers here, read for duty: Chip…" came another squeaky voice from the monitor.

"…And Dale!" The first chipmunk said immediately after.

"Well I think that answers your question." Sora said with a small smirk on his face. Ally rolled her eyes but had a small smile on her face she couldn't hide.

"Happy flying!" The two squeaky voices that belonged to Chip and Dale cheered together. A map on the window screen popped up suddenly. There was only one location on the map though.

"Only one?" Sora asked surprised, yet it also sounded like he was bummed by not seeing more worlds.

"That's not good!" Donald agreed as he sighed.

"Wait! I think it's a world we know!" Goofy said loudly as he looked closely at the world that was on the map.

"I think you're right…" Sora said as he leaned in as well.

"I don't recognize it…" Donald complained.

"We won't know if you've been there or not if we don't get there first." Ally stated.

"You're right, let's go check it out." Sora agreed.

"I'm nervous about you driving, Sora." Donald complained.

"What? Why? I can do this." Sora argued as he gripped onto the head of the ship's chair tighter, refusing to let it go anytime soon.

"You've never driven the Gummi Ship before though." Goofy mentioned.

"Wait, we're putting our lives in this guy's hands? Great…" Ally sighed.

"Trust me, we'll be just fine." Sora grinned, beaming with confidence. The Gummi ship shifted awkwardly to the left. Everyone gave Sora an accusing look. "Uh, I meant to do that." He chuckled nervously. He carefully landed the Gummi Ship somewhere a little bit away from town. Once they made it, they walked off the ship and looked around. Sora ran ahead of the gang and beamed.

"It's Hollow Bastion!" Sora said as he stopped from running and rested his hands on the stone rail.

"Gawrsh, it looks kinda different now." Goofy stated as he scanned the area.

"I hope Leon and the gang are doing okay." Donald mentioned.

"Huh, who's Leon?" Ally asked.

"He's a friend we met at a world called Traverse Town, and he and his gang moved here to help restore Hollow Bastion to its formal glory, since they used to live here before the Heartless took over." Sora explained.

"Really? Gosh, the poor guys…" Ally sighed as she moved her bangs out of her face.

"Uh-oh. Looks like we're gonna have to do some fightin'." Goofy said.

"What gave you that idea?" She asked curiously.

"Uh, I think Goofy was talkin' about them." Donald said obviously pointing up to the rooftops of some buildings. Ally followed his finger and saw Heartless disappearing and reappearing all over the place.

"Oh." She said simply.

"Let's be on our guard." Sora said.

"And let's visit your friends, make sure they're okay. If the Heartless are around, they might need our help." Ally suggested.

"Good call, let's get going." Sora stated and together the four walked down some stairs and started exploring the parts of Hollow Bastion they've never seen before.

"I never thought there'd be a town in Hollow Bastion." Goofy stated.

"Why's that?" Ally asked curiously. Obviously in her mind, if Leon, Yuffie, and the others lived here, there would have to be a place for them to live in.

"When Maleficent was controlling the Heartless, they completely tore apart this world." Sora stated as they continued to venture through the town.

"That's, that's awful." Ally said.

"Whoa!" Sora hollered suddenly as he stopped walking and stepped back.

"What is it?" Ally asked as she got next to Sora.

"Look at that!" Sora said as he pointed to where another mysterious object appeared and reappeared.

"What the heck?" Ally asked as she had to move away since there was one near her, a little too close for comfort.

"Hey, what's going on?" Donald asked annoyed as he watched the mysterious digital orbs disappear and reappear.

"That's the town's defense mechanism." Came a cheerful female voice. The gang looked around confused and out of the corner of Ally's eye she saw someone and turned her head upwards and saw a girl she knew to be Yuffie, though her outfit changed, and she approved of her. Ally pretended to be confused by the girl's presence and she quickly decided to tap Sora's shoulder and point her out to him.

"Yuffie!" He happily yelled up to her and smiled. Donald and Goofy waved up to her as well, happy to see their friend was all right. Yuffie smiled back and saluted to them.

"Look out!" Yuffie yelled suddenly, completely doing a 180 in regards to her mood. Sora turned around and his Keyblade appeared as a Nobody flew his way and he deflected it away from him and suddenly the group was completely surrounded by Nobodies.

"Yuffie, stay right there, we'll take care of this!" Sora called up to her, seeing she was itching to fight.

"Be careful!" She yelled to him, though she said it with some anger rather than concern because she looked ready to fight.

"You ready to try this again?" Sora asked, referring to their failed attempt of defeating them before.

"Oh yeah, they deserve a good beating this time." Ally said.

"I'm ready!" Donald cheered.

"Me too!" Goofy agreed. And without another word, they all went into action. There were five Nobodies in total, and Ally was able to take out one on her own, as she saw Donald and Goofy took out their own Nobody and Sora took out two with ease. She was impressed with how quickly they were getting back into fighting, since they've been asleep for a year.

"Hey, you guys!" Yuffie cheered happily as she stepped down to our level after the Nobodies was cleared. "I see you're still in top form."

"What'd you expect?" Sora asked as he punched his chest to show how tough he is as he smirked. "Looks like you're doing okay."

"Well, what did YOU expect?" Yuffie countered smirking along with Sora.

"How are the others?" Donald asked.

"Great!"

"Hey, Yuffie. Have you seen the King or Riku?"

"Nope." Yuffie said as she already started to walk off towards another part of Hollow Bastion. Sora physically sulked with his shoulders hunched over as he sighed. "But I had a feeling I'd see you guys again." Yuffie said as she turned around. Sora stood up from where he was and smiled at her softly. Then he turned forward to face Yuffie completely and covered his right eye and said in a deeper voice.

"'We may never meet again, but we will never forget each other.'"

"Was that supposed to be Leon?" Yuffie asked, though she already knew the answer, as she couldn't help but laugh. Donald and Goofy laughed as Sora stood tall and rubbed his finger under his nose and smirked. Ally just stood there and smiled, happy to see things haven't changed, though it's been a year, and also because she couldn't laugh along because that would give away she knew what Sora was talking about.

"Everyone's working on stuff over at Merlin's House. C'mon!" Yuffie cheered as she pointed behind her, meaning they should follow.

"We're right behind ya." Goofy said back and Yuffie ran off to lead the way. Donald and Goofy were already chasing after her and Ally was about to follow suit when she didn't hear Sora following her. She turned around and watched as he got sad again and looked at the ground. Ally patted his back in hope to comfort him and gave him a sympathetic smile. Sora was at first startled by the notion but relaxed a bit when he saw it was she. Ally assumed he was thinking to himself to realize she approached him.

"Hey, this wouldn't be a 'perilous journey' if we found the King and your friend Riku so easily, right?" She said smiling at him. Sora stared at her for a second with not expression on his face.

"I guess you're right." He said giving a small smile.

"That's the spirit, you're not allowed to sulk about anything as long as I'm around, okay?" Ally asked nudging him side and getting him to laugh a bit.

"Alright." He said, looking like his normal self.

"Hey!" Came a loud voice. Sora and Ally looked from between the two of them to where the voice was coming from. They saw Donald and Goofy standing there, waiting for them.

"C'mon! Yuffie's a lot faster than ya think!" Goofy called to them as well.

"Can't lose sight of her now can we?" Ally said looking back at Sora.

"Nope." Sora replied in agreement. They ran together to catch up to Donald and Goofy and together the four of them caught up to Yuffie, but they didn't make it to the house without fighting some Heartless first. Ally was still trying to get rid of the Heartless, since they didn't fight like fencers; she was trying to take in mind what kind of techniques she was going to need to have to fight the Heartless, not to mention those slippery Nobodies as well.

They finally made it to Merlin's house. Yuffie opened the door and held it out for everyone to walk in.

"Meet the Hollow Bastion Restoration Committee!" Yuffie said loudly as she showed off the headquarters space. Ally recognized in the far back of the room by a monitor screen and keyboard stood Aerith and Leon, who were on either side of Cid, who was sitting down tying away on the computer. The three in the back stopped what they were doing and turned around.

"We missed you!" Aerith cheered and clapped her hands as she saw her old friends.

"Well, if you ain't in top shape." Cid said as he scratched his stubbly chin and smirked their way.

"I knew it." Leon said as he smirked at the three long lost friends at the door. Ally ridged her eyebrow at Sora and he shrugged his shoulders, not knowing what he meant either, so Sora asked,

"Knew what?"

"A while back, everyone suddenly remembered you guys, all at the same time." Leon explained. The gang was startled by the news and jumped back. Although maybe Ally shouldn't have done so, it was still shocking to hear that everyone seemed to forget the unlikely heroes. It's even weirder since Sora quoted exactly what Leon said wouldn't happen, but it did.

"You…remembered?" Sora asked shocked and confused. "Wait! Does that mean you forgot about us?" Asking the question in a more insulted tone.

"Thanks!" Donald said loudly.

"So, where have you guys been all this time?" Yuffie questioned.

"We were sleepin' when Ally found us." Goofy stated. The Hollow Bastion Restoration Committee all looked confused for a second, then turned their eyes onto Ally, who they just didn't seem to notice until right then.

"True story." Ally said quickly as she crossed her arms behind her back.

"Where? In cold storage?" Cid asked sarcastically. The gang looked at each other and didn't say anything as Sora scratched the back of his head, Goofy didn't make eye contact, Donald awkwardly laughed, and Ally pivoted her toe into the floor.

"It doesn't matter. This is great. Everyone's together again!" Aerith said on a brighter note.

"So, um…we're trying to find Riku and the King, have you seen 'em?" Sora asked curiously. Aerith, Leon, and Cid all shook their heads in unison. "Right." Sora sighed as his eyes met the floor. Ally walked up next to him and nudged him. He looked up and stood upright and looked at Ally, she put her hands on her hips and glares at him and he laughs nervously.

"Sorry. But let us know if there's anything we can do to help, okay?" Aerith asked.

"Okay. Thanks." Sora said, cheering up.

"Don't go thankin' us just yet." Cid said as he approached Sora and got in his face quickly.

"Hollow Bastion's got a problem. A big problem." Leon stated seriously.

"You mean, like Nobodies, and Heartless?" Sora asked knowingly as he stepped to the side to see Leon.

"That's right!" Yuffie answered.

"Sounds like you could use our help." Sora said.

"Then let's cut to the chase." Leon said as he approached the gang. "Sora, Donald, Goofy, and you…" Leon said as his glance landed on Ally.

"Ally." She stated.

"Right. Can you fight?" He asked with a ridged brow.

"Course I can." Ally says as she puts out her hand and summons her blade for everyone to awe at. Leon gave her an approved look before continuing.

"Good. We were hoping that the four of you might give us a hand around here."

"Like we're gonna say no?" Sora asked jokingly.

"Hm…I forgot who I'm dealing with." Leon said smugly.

"Hey…what do you mean by that?" Donald complained.

"Just think of it as a sort of 'Leon compliment'." Arieth says smiling. Leon walks past everyone and over to the doorway. He opens the door slowly and holds it there.

"Follow me to the bailey." He states. "There's something you need to see." Leon walks out of the committee room and right before the gang could even take a step in Leon's direction a puff of smoke appeared before them and Merlin the Wizard appeared.

"Oh! I thought it was you. Right on time!" Called Merlin as his eyes rested on Sora's and the gang's position.

"It's Merlin!" Donald cried as the trio approached the wizard with Ally following slowly after.

"Sora and the gang said they're gonna help out!" Yuffie said to Merlin.

"Splendid! We'll count on you!"

"Right!" The group nodded.

"Ah, yes. Did you give them the cards, dear?" Merlin asked Aerith.

"Oh!" Aerith exclaimed as she scurried through her pockets to find what she was looking for. "Here…they're presents for you. Leon thought you might like to have them."

"'Hollow Bastion Restoration Committee Honorary Member'!" Sora read aloud with a toothy smile.

"Membership cards!" Donald cheered.

"Kinda cool, huh?" Goofy chuckled.

"Hey, thanks Leahhh…huh?" Sora looked up from the card to the door and realized Leon wasn't standing there anymore. "Oh no! We're supposed to be at the bailey!"

"Just a moment, Sora. What about your magic?" Merlin said, getting in front of the door.

"Huh? Oh, that's right…" Sora scratched his head.

"Maybe you forgot it while you were asleep!" Yuffie suggested.

"Now, what am I to do with you?" Merlin shook his head. "I suppose I'll have to lend you a few spells. But be careful with them!"

"Thanks, Merlin!" Sora bowed his head to the wizard graciously.

"To the bailey, and fast!" Donald demanded.

"Just a moment young girl…" Merlin called out to Ally. She stopped and blew some bangs out of her face then put on a smile for Merlin, even though Ally's had enough with being stopped by wizards for one day.

"It's Ally." Ally corrected.

"Ah, yes, Ally, I must have a word with you." Merlin asked. "You may follow them once we're done."

"Uh…" Ally looks behind her at Sora and the gang. She gives them a questioning look and he shrugs too. She sighs and tells them, "I'll catch up." Sora nods and they quickly leave the little house to find Leon.

"So I've seen you've managed to gain their trust quickly…good." Merlin noted.

"Uh, yes, since we're going to be traveling together, trust is the most important thing." Ally stated.

"Yes, even in your, ahem, circumstances, it will be hard to keep such a bond."

"Lemme guess…you know too? I mean, you heard?" Ally asked as she pointed up above her, meaning Kingdom Hearts.

"Yes, all wizards are quite perceptive to the unknown abilities and powers that encompass the mysterious Kingdom Hearts."

"Whaddya mean, Merlin?" Yuffie asks.

"Ah yes, Ally here has an important task of keeping the light and darkness in harmony and helping Sora along his journey, since it will be a perilous one. And she must do so with holding a great burden."

"Yeah…it's proven to be quite troublesome though, keeping things as they are." Ally sighed, trying to put some of her long bangs behind her ear.

"But you know how important it is to keep the balance, don't you?" Merlin asked. Ally nodded and sighed sadly. "I know it will not be easy, but you must know how capable you are at assisting the Keyblade bearer."

"I guess I do. I know what I havta do, but I wish I didn't have to hide so much from him, there's so much I wish I could just tell him, I don't like lying." She mumbled.

"But it is not your time to explain things." Merlin urged.

"But when will be the right time? Will there _ever_ be a 'right time?'"

"Sora's an understanding person, and always finds the best in his friends, and whatever it is that you must keep from him will not affect how things are between you two."

"Aerith is correct." Merlin agreed. "Though it seems bleak, you will right your wrongs in the end, I know that much."

"What else do you know, that might help me get along easier?" Ally asked curiously, she felt as though she needed all the advice she could get.

"I know that I can bestow upon you the same magical capabilities as I did to Sora." Merlin suggested.

"You can?"

"Why of course, child. They don't call me Merlin the Wizard for nothing."

"Yes, I do know that."

"Right." He chuckled. "Now, it might be hard to get used to using such strong magical powers, Sora has done so in the past. It's good not to go crazy at first and let the magic ease into you naturally. So don't go using it immediately, it'll show itself when you need it most." Merlin explained carefully.

"I understand." He waves his hands in the air and the enchantment is done. It felt as though a new presence was inside her, not like the voice of Kingdom Hearts though, it felt like a living energy flowing through her veins. It gave her chills but didn't seem to bother her. "Thank you for your help, Merlin."

"It's my pleasure." Merlin tipped his big pointy hat off to her. "Now go, Sora will need your help soon. Simply going to the bailey isn't so easy."

"Right." Ally nodded as she made a dash out of the house.

"Keep him safe!" Yuffie called out to her.

"Will do!" Ally said with a smile over her shoulder. When Ally turned around, she could see Sora was fighting some Heartless that decided to pop up near a staircase. "Sora! What are you doing?" Ally asked as she got out Brave Heart. "I thought you'd be with Leon by now."

"Well tell that to them, they don't seem to stop!" Sora complained.

"Ugh, of course, you can't do anything without me, can you?" Ally joked as she began to take on a solider Heartless.

"Hey!" Sora complained.

"We've been working hard while you've been chatting away." Donald argued.

"Not my fault I'm so important. Now, let's get to business!" Ally smirked.

"Hmph." Donald huffed as he threw another ice spell at the Heartless he was fighting, finally destroying it. Ally started taking on two Heartless creatures at once and they went down pretty easily. After that they were gone. Ally supported Brave Heart over her shoulder and gave them a look.

"Hey, we softened them up for you!" Sora said.

"Yeah, sure, you did." Ally smirked.

"Why I ought a…" Donald rolled up a sleeved and was about to charge before Goofy thankfully stopped him.

"Donald." Goofy pleaded. Ally laughed and lead the way to the bailey. Thankfully there weren't any other Heartless that showed up, well none they couldn't take on together.

"Nice of you to show up." Leon said as the four entered the bailey.

"We had to entertain some unwanted party crashers." Ally stated.

"What'd you want us to see?" Sora asked curiously.

"Look at that." Leon said to the gang once they arrived at the small opening in the wall where he was standing. "We want to restore Hollow Bastion to what it used to be." Leon explained solemnly. "Who knows – maybe even something better. There's still a lot to do, but I'm sure we can handle everything – except…for that…" Leon pointed to the remains of the old castle that Maleficent took over back on Sora's last journey. Leon pauses to scan the rest of the view and finally finds what he's looking for and points to it "…and that." What the gang saw was a small group of Nobodies making their way towards the palace filled with darkness.

"We'll handle 'em." Sora states, voice filled with confidence.

"Well, that's good to hear." Leon says with a smirk forming on his face. "So Sora – do you know what's going on, then?"

"There's this guy, Pete, who's been going around plotting with the Heartless. But he's not smart enough to tie his own shoes. The ones we need to worry about are the Nobodies."

"And those Organization XIII guys in charge, too!" Goofy added frantically.

"You called?" Asked a deep and ominous voice. The gang and Leon looked around but saw no one there. Sora suddenly ran to the other side of the bailey where a set of stairs is leading down to the lower levels.

"You're doing well." Commented a voice that was different from the first, but just as mysterious.

"Who's that!?" Sora demanded, taking out his Keyblade. Ally knew to bring out Brave Heart, she could sense a fight was about to start.

"This calls for a celebration…" Said the first voice. Suddenly down the stairs on a flat platform on the stairs appeared some Dusks. Donald and Goofy ran after them to defeat them. Sora was about to chase after them when Ally and Leon were suddenly in combat with more Dusks that appeared in front of them and Sora went to help them instead. Before they knew it, they were surrounded and the gate behind them that led to the rest of Hollow Bastion closed due to the automated systems that run through Hollow Bastion, sensing a threat.

"We have to protect these gates!" Leon called out to Sora and Ally. "If the Dusks get through, there won't be anything stopping them."

"Right. You can count on us!" Sora stated as he took his stance. Ally jumped out of the way of an attack and stood now back to back with Sora.

"You sure we got this? There's, well, a lot of them." Ally said as she tried to suppress the worry threatening to reveal itself in her voice.

"Positive. We just need to work together, we can do this." Sora said looking back at her for her to agree. She smiled softly and nodded. The two jumped away from each other and began thrashing. After defeating the wave of Dusks, new looking Nobodies appeared: one type carried a gray sword and the others kept moving their big feet and dodging Ally's and Sora's attacks. The Nobodies wielding the swords were more challenging to face since they had a weapon worthy of going up against the Keyblade and the Shattering Illumina.

"The Keyblade…a truly marvelous weapon." Came the deep voice that was first heard from before. Sora and Ally ran out to find the voice and stood next to Donald and Goofy and were ready to keep fighting if needed be. "Were it only in more…capable hands…" A group of people laughing followed afterwards.

"Show yourselves!" Sora called out. Suddenly up above on another level appeared a dark portal and a person dressed in a black cloak, similar to the one in Twilight Town appeared. He lifted his arms slowly and soon appeared six more dark portals to reveal six more members.

"Organization XIII!" Goofy called.

"Yeah, more like Organization VI…" Ally mumbled to herself as she stared at the group of black cloaked figures above her. She scanned the six figures and tried to figure out which one gave her Shattering Illumina, but none of them seemed to suit the person she met. Though she knew he had to be near, and she had to pick a bone with him. Sora looked mad, and looked back at his three companions and asked the silent question, 'are you guys ready to fight?' They all nodded yes in agreement and Sora turned back to the Organization members.

"Good. Now we can settle this!" Sora called out to them.

"What a shame…" Sighed the head of the Organization from what Ally could make since he was the main person talking and he summoned the rest of the Organization to appear. "And here I thought we could be friends."

"Ha! What a joke!" Ally scuffed and the Organization laughed aloud amongst themselves and disappeared into their own portals.

"Stop!" Donald cried out as he was fuming. He started making a dash to the stairs to somehow get to where the Organization members were but was stopped by a dark portal appearing in his path. "What's the big idea!?" Donald yelled at the dark cloaked man that appeared as Donald looked from where the members were standing a minute ago to then back at the person in front of them. Sora, Ally, and Goofy readied their weapons. Ally was hoping it her cloaked gift bearer.

"Oopsy-daisy!" Said the black-cloaked man sarcastically, in a new voice the gang never heard speak before. Ally sighed angrily as it wasn't him, again. Though that wouldn't stop her from picking a fight with him and getting some answers out of him.

"Move!" Sora ordered.

"Now do you think that's polite, shutting me down like that?" Asked the man, doing a horrible job at pretending to be offended. He seemed more amused than anything else, and that bugged Ally.

"I said get outta the way!" Sora demanded again.

"As if! You can talk all you want, but that won't change a thing."

"Then we're gonna MAKE you move!" Donald threatened as he joined his friends in a fighting position.

"See, that would work – if I was any old dude." Said the man tauntingly. "'Cept I'm not. I'm with the Organization. Nothing 'any old' about me."

"Ha! Tough talk for someone who stood on the sidelines while his Nobody flunkeys did the fighting!" Sora mocked.

"Oh, dear." Said the man in the cloak as he placed his hands on his hips disapprovingly. "I think you got the wrong impression." He said as he waved his right pointer finger in the air.

"You gonna cry?"

"As if! Why don't I remind you how tough the crowd you're dealing with really is?" The man said threateningly.

"Remind me?" Sora asked confused by why he needed reminding of anything. Ally ridged her eyebrow at the man curiously as to what he was aiming for by saying that, but decided to stay silent and observe for the time being. Sora seemed to shake off his confusion and got angry, not liking the fact this guy's toying with him.

"That's RIGHT." The man said laughing. "He used to give me that same exact look."

"I guess you think you can psych me out by saying really random stuff!" Sora said to the man.

"Gee…" The man mused pretending to be thinking thoughtfully as he placed his hand under his chin, 'deep in concentration'. "I just don't know." The man shrugged and after doing the gesture kept his hands out, guarding the staircase so the gang wouldn't get by it. The five of them stood in their ready positions for a few moments with no words exchanged, waiting for who would make the first move. Ally decided to make the best of the standstill and jumped.

"Ally-" Sora called out to her but was cut off as Nobodies attacked him, along with everyone else, leaving the hooded man and Ally to their own devices.

**Allyson, this is not right.**

'Shut up I know what I need to do.'

"Now is that any way to make an introduction?" He asked jokingly.

"I thought it would be a good one to start with you, I've had enough running into guys like you." Ally said annoyed.

"Guys like me…" He chuckled. "If you're talking about my fellow members, then I'm proud to say I'm not like those pushovers."

"Nonetheless, I've got some questions to get out of you." She growled.

"Why don't you just ask?" He asked in fake fascination.

"Like you would give them to me willingly." Ally spat. "Besides, I rather get my anger out on you." She smirked.

"As if." He said with what ally could guess was a roll of the eyes. "Oh alright, if you insist." He said sinisterly.

"Oh I do…" Ally said darkly as she charged once more. Their weapons clashed and they stood there struggling over dominance.

"How did you know about me?" Ally asked angrily.

"Who doesn't know about you and your interesting abilities?" He snickered.

"Is that why you gave me this?" She asked, annoyed as she signaled with her eyes to her blade.

"Now why would we do a silly thing like that?" He asked, still toying with her.

"Enough jokes." She spat and pushed him off of her and he stepped back slightly.

"For once kid, I'm not…" He said as he straightened to stand taller.

"I'm starting to get sick of you." She stated in a matter-of-fact tone.

"And that, I can agree on." He said with annoyance. She began to charge again and managed to knock one of his crossbows out of his hands as it clattered to the ground a few feet away from him. "I've had enough of this…" He said darkly as he disappeared out of thin air. Ally staggered in her motion and stood still, looking around for him. What she wasn't expecting was for him to be floating slightly behind her higher in the air as he readied his crossbow. He took a few quick shots and they struck Ally just as she turned around and realized where he was. She staggered and fell to her knees, and then suddenly over to her side as she lost all strength.

"ALLY!" Sora called out, panicked. Ally was just managing to stay conscious and aware of her surroundings.

"Be a good boy now!" And as the man said this, he started disappearing into a portal he generated and was gone without another word. Donald tried stopping him by following him into the portal.

"Wait!" Donald cried out angrily. But by the time Donald jumped in the air to follow the man into the portal it was gone and Donald landed on his feathery stomach. "Nuts! He got away!" He said as he slammed his fist into the ground.

"Ally!" Goofy called as he and everyone else ran over to her limp body on the ground. Sora quickly on the way cast a healing spell on her.

"That was pretty foolish of you…" Leon mumbled as he walked over slowly.

"I…" Ally choked on her words and paused. "I, had to, he…" She trailed off.

"Hey, hey. It's okay." Sora mused as he helped her stand and wrapped her arm over his shoulder so he could help her stand. "Let's get you back to Merlin, okay?"

"Mm-hm." She mused, not having enough energy to say much else. She focused on her feet working as they slowly made their way to committee's head quarters, but she blacked out after leaving the bailey.

**It's time for you to rest now.**

'I'm sorry.'

**It's all right, just sleep.**

"Ally?" Sora asked as he felt Ally get significantly heavier. He looked down at her in horror. "Hey! Stay with me…" He said trying to shake her as he stopped to examine her.

"We need to get her to Merlin…now." Leon said stopping to turn around to Sora and the gang when they stopped.

"Gawrsh, I hope he'll be able to help." Goofy said.

"Of course he will, he's Merlin!" Donald argued.

"Yeah, but…" Goofy looked at her in a very concerned manner.

"Hmph." Leon sighed as he took Ally out of Sora's hands and carried her fully off the ground in his arms. "Let's move…"

"Uh…okay." Sora said after a beat as they continued to hurry to the HQ.

Ally woke up in a white haze. She was lying on the ground, and slowly got to her feet. She looked down at the ground and realized she wasn't in her usual garments. She was barefoot and wearing a white dress that flowed around her and went a little past her knees. Her hair was oddly down, which it never usually is and she looked around to see if there was anything else with her. Everything around her was white, whiter than her bleached dress. She shivered slightly as she felt a change in the air.

"I thought I told you to use it wisely…" She heard a familiar voice that immediately sent anger running through her. She didn't move or respond as she just put her head down and pretended to be in deep thought. She felt a presence come closer to her and before she knew it she saw a shadow slightly shrouding her, and she felt a light leathery hand placed on her shoulder. That's when she snapped. She summoned Brave Heart and began to slash at her target. He simply moved out of the way, almost like he was gliding. Ally didn't waste time though to try again.

"You liar!" She said swinging her weapon and aiming for the guy's head. She continued to call him horrible names each time she took a swing at him.

"What?" He asked in confusion, as he continued not to fight back and merely dodge Ally's attempts at beheading him.

"You were supposed to be someone I could trust, you helped me! And now I know who you REALLY are! You're one of them!" Ally seethed.

"One of who?" It asked again.

"The Organization!" She hollered.

"No I'm not." He stated simply.

"Oh yeah, if you weren't why are you dressed like them, and why do you reek of darkness?" He said nothing as Ally continued to charge. "I can see it radiating off of you, like a horrible leech that's consuming you. It's disgusting!" She screamed as she was going to slice up at him but he pulled out a dark mysterious blade and blocked her shot, she couldn't focus on the form of the blade though, it seemed to shift in the darkness.

"I wouldn't push it if I were you…" He said as he started putting more weight on his weapon, lowering Ally to her knee. "Get too close to the darkness, and it'll taint you."

"Shut up!" Ally spat as she swung her leg out and tried to trip him, but he vanished in a haze. She got up and snapped her head around frantically looking for him.

"Funny, you sounded just like him…" He taunted as she looked up and saw him floating a little ways above her.

"I don't know what you're talking about but I know this: I'm going to take, you, DOWN!" Ally did a running jump and ended up incredibly high, more than she thought was possible and she was almost making contact with her blade when a new voice cried out,

"No! Stop!" The voice then appeared as a white glowing orb in between the mysterious hooded man and Ally.

"Gah!" The orb shone brightly as engulfed Ally's eyesight. She landed with an uncomfortable thud on the ground and shielded her eyes. Once she saw it dim down, she looked up again and her jaw dropped. "Y-your Highness? What are you doing here?" She asked in disbelief as she stared at the small mouse with his hood down.

"You have to stop fighting." The King pleaded.

"Oh yeah, why? He's the enemy!" Ally asked as she pointed at the hooded man with her blade, still glaring at him.

"No, he's just concealing himself." Mickey said stepping forward.

"Wait, wait, wait. You trust him?" Ally asked in disbelief. She stared at the King bug eyed and changed her glance from the King, to the hooded person, and back to his majesty.

"With my life." Mickey said proudly. He looked back at the man and smiled.

"B-but, he's…" Ally tried talking and formulating another excuse but Mickey interrupted her stating,

"Doing the same as I am, hiding in plain sight with these cloaks."

"But at least I know who you are, I don't know this punk." Ally scuffed.

"But I do, and for now you just have to trust me on that." Mickey said honestly, there was no other way to put it. Ally looked between the two for a moment and finally caved at how sincere Mickey's face was.

"…Fine, I guess." She mumbled an apology.

"Now you need to focus, you're not in the best condition as of now." The dark cloaked man said seriously as he crossed his arms. Ally presumed he was pissed at her for not trusting him. She couldn't blame him.

"What? What are you…?" Ally asked, but then it dawned on her. "Wait…I was fighting wasn't I? Against that creep…I, I lost…" Ally realized quietly. She let her head sag so she was just staring at her toes.

"Yes, and you're seriously hurt…" Mickey agrees sadly, mimicking Ally.

"Wait, so, what is this? Am I dead?" Ally asked a bit more panicked this time. she was about to start pacing but the hooded man clasped his hands on her shoulders.

"No…not yet anyway," He sighed. "You're lucky they're taking care of you."

"Oh…" Ally sighed as she sagged her head again. "But wait…this is all just part of the plot…I'm not actually going to die, it's not possible…" Ally inquired as she looked beyond the hooded man, not expecting him to understand and looking to Mickey for an answer.

"You still think this is a dream?" He asked a little shocked.

"Well isn't it? I mean if I died, wouldn't I just wake up at home? Unharmed?" Ally asked, but as she talked she saw Mickey's features, and the more she talked, the more her questions didn't sound like questions.

"I'm afraid that's not how it works…" Mickey sighed as he rubbed the back of his neck.

"So…I really _did_ screw up, didn't I?" Ally asked, knowing the answer, and sighing.

"Yeah." The hooded man said monotonously.

"Oh…wow…so that's why it felt so real…"

"Because it is…" The man said gripping her shoulders a bit tighter. "You have to face that now, or else this won't end well for you, or Sora."

"Sora?" Ally head's snapped at him. "Oh my goodness, I almost failed…" She started panicking and she cradled her head in her hands and she stepped away from the man.

"Yeah, but you're lucky you can pull through and make it right. You'll be able to continue and you'll be able to do better this time with the right mind-set." Mickey tried to think more on the positive side.

"Yeah, I guess you're right…"

"I know it's overwhelming…it is for anyone who's forced into this chaos, but it's necessary to keep everyone safe…you have to be strong for those around you, as well as yourself…" The man said wisely, sounding like he was talking from experience.

"Okay…and, uh, ahem…sorry…" Ally coughed.

"For?" The man tilted his head.

"For, ya know, smacking you around and trying to beat you to a pulp…"

"It's not like I was trying."

"Are you saying you're better than me?" Ally ridged a brow at him and crossed her arms while leaning her weight on one leg.

"Well I've had more experience than you, so you could say that."

"It's not like this is my first time fighting mister anonymous." She mocked. "Say, what do I even call you anyway, do you have a name?"

"I have no name, I'm merely a figment of darkness." He said darkly.

"Well…that's a really long title, so I'm just going to call you Anon, kay?"

"Anon?" He asked quizzically.

"Yeah, like for Anonymous. It sounds better than calling you the figment of darkness." She perked slightly at her cleverness.

"I guess." He shrugged.

"Good." She smiled satisfied. He walked up to her again, a little closer than Ally was expecting.

"Now…I think its time for you…" He said slowly gripping her shoulders again. "To wake up." He said and he shoved her slightly backwards and everything around her started to vanish.

* * *

So another long chappie, I meant to add in more Kingdom Hearts talks but I think I'll add some more into the next chapter.

Hope you guys liked this chapter, we get to see more into Ally's perspective and she'll be having these dreams usually towards the end of each chapter, something for me really, to show my creative flare in the story - more to come soon!

:) keep reviewing - I really want to hear from all of you :)


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